P-P-P-pick up a penicillin
Ways to find staff and keep them

P-P-P-pick up a penicillin

This week, the Consumers’ Association (CA) published a report recommending that the ban on advertising medicines directly to the public should not be lifted. The report is intended to pre-empt the expected announcement next week of European Union proposals. If accepted, these would allow some advertising of medicines to patients with diabetes mellitus, HIV/AIDS or respiratory conditions.

The stance from the CA might seem surprising given that it is usually an advocate of patients’ rights. However, it says that, although patients need and want more information about their medicines, the idea behind such advertising is largely to persuade the public to ask for a particular product, even when it might not be the best option for them. At its worst, the CA says, such advertising in the United States has been known to include endorsement of products by celebrities or to encourage the overuse of antibiotics.

Pharmaceutical companies undoubtedly hold more data about the drugs they have developed than anyone else. It does seem curious, therefore, that they cannot make this information available to patients. What needs to be decided is how best to channel the resources of companies into unbiased, accurate, accessible and complete information about treatment options.

Pharmacists are in a position to give the public and fellow health care professionals reliable, independent advice about medicines. This will become more important than ever if the rules governing advertising to the public are relaxed. It will be interesting to see how the debate develops over the coming months.

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Ways to find staff and keep them

Recruitment and retention of health service staff is a perennial problem. The fact that The Journal carries so many classified job advertisements is a reflection not only of vacancies in the traditional sectors, but also of the range of career opportunities now open to pharmacists. This week we carry a feature about the decisions some companies have made to recruit abroad and an article which describes the system that the pharmacy department at London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has created to overcome its retention difficulties. We hope that this issue also draws politicians’ attention to the fact that shortages of nurses and doctors are matched by shortages of pharmacists, and that the Government needs to address these with the same vigour if the NHS Plan is to be realised in its entirety.

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