Electronic prescription transfer
Your vote counts

Electronic prescription transfer

The Government has cleverly spread both its bets and its risk in choosing three consortia to undertake pilot projects on the electronic transfer of prescriptions (see p451). The consortia contain a mixture of the usual names and some varied technology partners. Each is trying a different model of ETP at its own cost. The Department of Health is merely covering the costs of an independent evaluation at this stage.

ETP has been a long time coming, despite a number of small trials in England and Scotland. By linking prescribers, pharmacies and the pricing authorities directly, community pharmacies will be drawn even more closely into the core of the National Health Service. Community pharmacy access to the NHSnet is given a boost and so the case for pharmacists having access to relevant patient records is made stronger. With these things in place community pharmacists will be in a better position to take on repeat dispensing and medicines management.

By the end of next year it should be becoming clear how ETP can be made to work. A national roll out of ETP has been promised by 2004. However, if this is to be successful, the Government will have to bite the bullet and adequately fund its implementation. It will not be enough just to expect pharmacist to reach into their own pockets yet again.

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Your vote counts

One claim made last summer was that more people cast a vote in the final round of Big Brother than voted in the previous elections to the European parliament. There are a number of obvious lessons to be learnt from that, not least that most people in the United Kingdom feel divorced from the processes on the other side of the Channel.

Apathy is the scourge of all organisations where constituents do not feel connected to their governing body, or in situations where they believe they have no influence on the governing body. Ironically, by participating in a democratic exercise and voting, individuals can influence the outcome as everybody who voted for Craig Phillips from Big Brother can attest.

Historically, a minority of members of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society have tended to vote in Council elections. This year, particularly as many pharmacists may have been looking forward to voting in May, they should turn their attention to the election where they can make a difference and pick the individuals they actively want to represent them on the Society’s Council.

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