Council Election

Questions for candidates

In accordance with the procedure for the conduct of Council elections, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Council has invited The Journal to ask the candidates three questions on matters of topical interest. Voters in the election may wish to read the answers to the questions in conjunction with the candidates' statements of policy before deciding how to vote.

The aim of the Council's invitation is to assist members in making the most informed decision possible when voting by allowing them to learn the candidates' views on questions of interest to the profession that might arise after they have prepared their statements of policy. Because The Journal is asked to publish the responses as close as possible to the mailing of the voting papers, there has been little time for new matters of interest to arise since the March 31 closing date for the receipt of candidates' policy statements. As a consequence, our questions relate to issues that are not necessarily new but have attracted interest in recent days. We are grateful to those readers who submitted topics in response to our earlier request for suggestions.

The Council has asked The Journal to restrict each response in length to ensure fairness. We have given each candidate a maximum of 150 words in which to answer all three answers.

Members are reminded that completed voting papers have to be returned to Electoral Reform Ballot Services by no later than noon on Friday, May 18.

Any members who have not received voting papers should contact the head of central administration at the Society's headquarters so that a further set can be sent.

The Journal's three questions

The Journal's questions for Council election candidates are as follows:

1. Register Are you in favour of separate registers for practising and non-practising pharmacists and, if so, how do you define practice?
2. Delegation How much of a pharmacist's responsibility, particularly for prescription checking, can be delegated to support staff?
3. Grass roots What will you do as a Council member to stay in touch with grassroots pharmacy practice across the profession?

Andrew Burr

Register No — this is too simplistic. We required a dynamic accreditation and registration system, linked to continuing professional development, which ensures pharmacists have the required competencies to practise at different levels of specialty. This is key to our participation in multidisciplinary medicine management programmes.

Delegation Responsibility: none. Role: most. The pharmacist carries the responsibility for the overall process; however, the only roles within the dispensing process for the pharmacist are: (1) check that the prescription, as prescribed, is appropriate for the individual patient; and (2) effectively communicate the pharmaceutical care issues to them. There are too many overqualified typists, packers or markers of other people's dispensing. Delegation to appropriate support staff is essential.

Grass roots Keep my feet on the ground and head out of the sand. There are already too many ostriches on Council, who think they can fly! Personally, I find listening and talking (in that order) to members helps!

Sarah Cockbill

Register I am not in favour of this because: (1) these registers cannot be established without considerable financial and administrative costs; (2) there is no obvious advantage for the Society's membership; (3) defining practice must involve lengthy debate, which time could be better used by Council to promote and implement exciting new professional innovations.

Delegation The pharmacist does not have to be involved at every stage of the dispensing process but, until there is a change in primary legislation, the requirements of the Medicines Act 1968 dictate that the responsibility for prescription checking in both primary and secondary care cannot be delegated to support staff.

Grass roots I consider that each Council member should be given responsibility for communicating with pharmacists within an allocated area at executive (if appropriate), regional and branch levels. Once contact times/numbers and addresses are defined then it will be possible for grassroots pharmacy opinion to be transmitted directly to Council.

Sultan Dajani (“Sid”)

Register Competency registers for the Society hierarchy would be more apt! Great in theory but unrealistic to regularly monitor or devise suitable criteria for rejection from the practising register especially when considering the differing competencies and values required by the profession's multifarious diversity and multidisciplinary specialties. Furthermore, maintaining two registers has widespread implications including cost inefficiency, promulgating the workforce shortage and affecting the uptake of extended roles. Only paymasters should choose competent practitioners based on skills, responsibility, local criteria, voluntary accreditation and consistent quality outcomes.

Delegation For pharmacists to continue delivering optimal patient care while developing extended services further appropriate delegation is necessitated subject to operating procedures, liability and training. However the responsibility of medicines management should not be delegated.

Grass roots My record of two-way conversing with the membership has been documented through various channels of print, cyberspace and at 46 branches. Working at grassroots I am also empathic to current concerns.

Marshall Davies

Register Participation in schemes of continuing professional development will be a prerequisite for the right to practise in all spheres of community and hospital pharmacy. I believe there should be a single register for all, but with details of the licence to practise in defined sectors flagged alongside the name. Examples of practice include primary care and psychiatric pharmacy.

Delegation I believe a pharmacist is personally accountable for his actions and those of his staff, and this cannot be devolved. The pharmacist may choose to delegate responsibility to staff. This is dependent upon their ability, experience and competence, and in accordance with procedures and protocols, recognising the need for patient benefit and safety.

Grass roots The Council when setting policy must be in touch with grassroots pharmacy practice. I have done this by holding regular and frequent meetings with grassroots pharmacist from all parts of the profession. This I shall continue to do.

William Dawson

Register I am in favour of one register. Non-practising members will not show current professional competencies which will be used as one of the bases of the register entry. This will include practice in community, hospital, industry and academia as well as other categories such as consultancy. Key to this are the criteria for entry to and continuance on the register for each practice category.

Delegation The pharmacist will retain current responsibilities but this should be expanded to include the provision of training and monitoring of performance of checking technicians, for example.

Grass roots I will continue to attend branch and regional meetings but I recognise that more needs to be done. I would like to find out what the majority of our members really want — they don't participate in chatlines or come to branches but must have a view on the future direction of our profession.

Wally Dove

Register I am in favour of separate registers, but the many facets of our profession must be reflected by various definitions of what practice constitutes. This will allow all practising pharmacists to be included in a relevant section of the practice register.

Delegation I agree with Lord Hunt, who recently said that the pharmacist must be in the pharmacy to supervise medicine sales and dispensing. However, I believe that the most important thing is that a pharmacist must be able to make a professional assessment of the prescription. Physical assembly can be safely left to trained technicians working in a quality-controlled environment. Final check should be left to the professional discretion of the pharmacist.

Grass roots I will continue to eat sleep and breathe pharmacy and never forget what it is like at the coalface. I will make myself available to and seek briefings from all other branches of the profession.

Sally Greensmith

Register I am not in favour of separate registers, as I believe that being a pharmacist is not what you do but who you are. However, to maintain consistently high standards of practice, defined as work where registration as a pharmacist is a prerequisite, and to ensure that the pharmacist is suitably qualified for the type of practice, the register should record the current practising status with levels of expertise, qualifications and revalidation.

Delegation Numbers of qualified staff permitting, prescription checking could be delegated to technicians with the pharmacist seeing the prescription at an agreed point in the dispensing process. The ultimate responsibility must rest with the pharmacist.

Grass roots My role at the health authority, which would continue, brings me into daily contact with community pharmacists and I attend local pharmaceutical committee meetings. I work alongside the primary care pharmacists and with secondary care pharmacists through the pharmacy development group and local branch.

Helen Remington

Register I favour separate registers for pharmacists who have been out of employment for a minimum number of hours per annum. Pharmacists who have not completed, say, 10 half days each six months should work in a supervised manner, confirmed as competent by a practising pharmacist before return to the “practice” register.

Delegation The key to task delegation is competency. This must be assured to protect patients. Accuracy checking, ie, has the right product been assembled and labelled according to the prescription, can be delegated in this way. Technicians would not be competent to assess the appropriateness of the prescription.

Grass roots Staying in touch with members is achieved via the workplace, through local branch or regional meetings and by visiting branches at their invitation. Listening as well as speaking is the more important element of such occasions.

Ashwin Tanna

Register I am in favour of separate registers for practising and non-practising pharmacists. To define practice is to ensure that pharmacists should have mandatory continuing professional development as a condition for periodic renewal of practising rights or for readmission to practice after a period of absence.

Delegation The primary object of the pharmacist is to ensure that the dispensed medicine a patient receives is what was ordered by the prescriber. Support staff should be able to prepare the medication. The final check must be carried by a pharmacist before the medicine is collected by the patient.

Grass roots To stay in touch with grassroots pharmacy practice, I would encourage the Council, if it is possible, to allow local branches to develop their own websites. This is because more members have access to the internet and may therefore be willing to use their e-mail addresses for professional communications.

Vanessa Taylor

Register At present the time is not right. My reasons are as follows: How would you define practice? The cost of implementing and maintaining these registers would be high. Movement between registers could be at high personal cost and could disenfranchise some pharmacists. Further debate is needed before changes are made.

Delegation A pharmacist should have the final accountability for a prescription, but may delegate the responsibility to qualified technicians. It is essential to adhere to all clinical governance principles with clear audit trails and defined protocols in place. A pharmacist should always be available to intervene if required.

Grass roots As a member of the Community Pharmacy Group at present, I would maintain my links with this group. I would seek to attend meetings of other interest groups at the Society. I would make time to attend branch meetings outside my region to gain a broader view.

Alan Woodcock

Register I am not in favour of separate registers for factions of our profession. Practice is whereby a member acts using their qualification to make judgments of a pharmaceutical nature to which they are professionally liable for the outcome. The reason for my view is that I value a unified professional body.

Delegation A certain amount of responsibility can be delegated to support staff but a pharmacist must check in the dispensing process at some time. The amount of supervision is up to the judgment of the pharmacist in charge as they are the ultimate bearer of the responsibility. This depends on the competence of the supporting staff.

Grass roots I practise in general practice pharmacy as does my daughter at grass roots level. I also meet members from all branches and I exchange ideas on how the profession is progressing. Should I be elected I would make more time for this discourse.

Ben Zatland

Register Practising pharmacists are those who provide services directly to patients or health care professionals. I would favour a separate register for practising and non-practising pharmacists if it was found that the requirement for continuing professional development was not producing the desired effect of providing a “first class service” to patients.

Delegation I believe that the pharmacist should check every prescription and that this role should not be delegated. This is the pharmacist's responsibility and patients are entitled to expect this. Delegation of dispensing procedures and many other aspects of supply can be implemented subject to the necessary protocols, training and resource being in place.

Grass roots As a working community pharmacist, a member of a local pharmaceutical committee and chairman of a group of five LPCs with responsibility for co-ordinating input and initiatives from contractors and health authorities, I am well placed to be in very close touch with grass roots pharmacy practice.

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