Pharmacists to have access to NHS Leadership Centre
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health Hazel Blears
has told the Royal Pharmaceutical Society that pharmacists should have
access to the National Health Service Leadership Centre to incentivise
and support them in leading change. Officials would be following this
up with the centre.
In a discussion on pharmacist prescribing at a meeting
on 12 December, the Society's President (Marshall Davies) and Secretary
and Registrar (Ann Lewis) highlighted the need to develop an appropriate
health record and supporting IT infrastructure for pharmacists in primary
care. The Department of Health hopes to see pharmacists engaged in supplementary
prescribing in 2003, with regulations laid next year.
The President raised the issue of morale. Pharmacists
in all sectors were feeling demotivated and stressed by current pressures
and uncertainties. If increasing NHS productivity demands were not supported
by appropriate resources, the profession's capacity to deliver safe, high
quality, innovative service could be adversely affected, he said.
The Minister said that she was aware of the feelings
of pharmacy contractors at this time and had had discussions with representatives
of contractor organisations. Despite the current difficulties, she was
confident that the profession shared the Government's desire to reward
quality in health care. The challenge was to find a robust way to do that.and
keep people motivated.
As part of the "Pharmacy in the future initiative",
the Department was about to engage formally with the Society on the issue
of workforce. The Minister asked if the Society could provide a breakdown
of pharmacist workload in the various sectors and said that she would
study trends in workload with interest.
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