The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7174 p700
17 November 2001

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Regulation and professional development [more]
Statins for everyone [more]

Regulation and professional development

In the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Bill, published last week, there is recognition that the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has two roles: those of regulator and professional body. The President of the Society has taken the opportunity to write about some of the implications of the Bill in this week's issue (p727). He emphasises that, although some people believe that these two functions should be divided into two separate bodies, in fact there is great strength in the two happening under one roof.

For years many pharmacists will have wondered what the Society has done for them. They pay their money, they are registered to practise, and they receive their Journal. Those in the community are inspected once in a while and, provided they behave themselves, that's the beginning and the end of their relationship with the Society. There are some pharmacists who, in addition, expect the Society to look after their individual interests, and, in the past, this is what has happened.

However, the publication of the Bill and the comments from the President, should make pharmacists take more notice, if they are not already doing so. The new climate of regulation, triggered by the appalling mess the General Medical Council has made of controlling doctors, and with its emphasis on professional development as an integral part of the process, will change what the Society will be able to do for individual members.

Yes, they will have to continue to pay their money, they will continue to be registered to practise, they will continue to receive The Journal and they will be inspected. The Society will have to concentrate on developing pharmacy as a profession: registration will no longer be just a minimum standard and members of the Society will be expected to demonstrate fitness to practise throughout their careers. And it is not going to be popular.

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Statins for everyone

Results just released from the Heart Protection Study have led the lead researcher to say "Statins are the new aspirin". The publication of the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease was originally delayed because, it was widely believed, the Treasury was not prepared to fund statin prescribing for people with high blood cholesterol. The question is, will the Government be prepared to take this new evidence on board and amend the NSF accordingly?

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