The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7183 p151-157
2 February 2002

Community Pharmacists Group
The reports on this page have been compiled by Stan Wheatley, a member of the Community Pharmacist Group Committee.

Group determined to communicate effectively despite loss of newsletter [more]
Steps taken to improve group's efficiency [more]
Concern at effects of new POM-to-P proposals [more]

Group determined to communicate effectively despite loss of newsletter

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Community Pharmacists Group Committee is determined to continue to provide effective two-way communication with the group membership, despite a Council decision to withdraw funding for its newsletter, CPGNEWS.

The committee says that its communication will now be by way of a regular page offered to it by The Journal. It is also exploring the provision of dedicated web space for the group on the Society's website. Currently the website gives basic information about the group in its "About the Society" section. It gives contact details, sets out the group's objectives, outlines its activities and describes the committee's work.

The group committee is concerned that it has had to contend with budget cuts two years running. Because the budget for 2001 was reduced by 10.5 per cent compared with 2000, the committee met only three times in 2001, instead of four times as in previous years, thus making a substantial contribution to the overall reduction in operating costs as required by the Society.

In June 2001 the committee was informed of an "agreed budget for 2002", which included a sum adequate to ensure the continuing production of CPGNEWS in its then form. However, after the Council had fixed the Society's budgets for 2002 at its meeting in October 2001, the committee learnt that the Council had decided to withdraw the CPGNEWS budget, which had represented nearly 50 per cent of the earlier "agreed" budget.

The group committee regrets that it has never been allowed an input into the budget building process nor has it been able to monitor expenditure against budget. A committee involvement in the decision-making processes would have provided opportunities to explore other cost-effective means of communication with the membership, such as the production of a cut-down, economy version of CPGNEWS.

The committee is also concerned that the Society has given no publicity to the decision to withdraw funding for CPGNEWS, thus precluding the group members from commenting on this diminution of membership service.

It was ironic that the final issue of CPGNEWS included an article in which the group chairman reaffirmed the group committee's intention to deliver effective communication — a fundamental priority since the group's early days. Furthermore the committee had been delighted to note that, in his independent review of the Community Pharmacists Group, published in October 2000, Sir Duncan Nichol had singled out the newsletter for praise.

Steps taken to improve group's efficiency

The Community Pharmacists Group Committee is taking steps to make the group more flexible and efficient in its ways of working, as required by the Society's Council.

At its meeting on 28 January, the committee explored the means by which it could carry forward the process begun last year when it re-engineered its structure and put into place mechanisms to facilitate debate and discussion. As a first step the committee agreed to carry out a baseline assessment of the group's effectiveness, which would be judged against an assessment of its potential role and influence. The committee also identified a need to be more proactive in its relationships with the various subdivisions within the Society.

The committee agreed that, to permit better communication among committee members between meetings, it would explore the feasibility of electronic communication such as e-mail groups and virtual meetings. Additionally it would look into the possibility of setting up a network of community pharmacy feedback contacts at Society branch committee level.

In constructing its business plan and measuring its workload for 2002 the committee listed the following key topics for future consideration: standard operating procedures for dispensing; the transition from continuing education to continuing professional development; clinical governance and professional performance standards; skill mix and supervision; and community pharmacy work force issues.

Concern at effects of new POM-to-P proposals

A proposed new process for changing the legal status of medicines in the United Kingdom could deter licence holders from seeking change, the Community Pharmacists Group Committee warned at its 28 January meeting.

The Medicines Control Agency's consultation document MLX 279 proposes that medicines should be classified by product through the marketing authorisation rather than by the active substance through secondary legislation, allowing the introduction of a simpler system of application for change of status. But the committee was concerned that an applicant's monopoly over reclassified sales would effectively last only three months, after which other manufacturers whose products included the same active ingredients could apply for a similar change of status. It was felt that a competitive advantage lasting only three months would not justify the expense of applying for a change of status. Consequently, products that usefully could be supplied in the community pharmacy setting would be less likely to move from prescription-only medicine (POM) to pharmacy medicine (P) status.

The committee intends to commission a project to investigate POM-to-P reclassification and the impact that the process has on the public assessment of the value of pharmacists' involvement at the point of sale of pharmacy medicines. In this connection the committee urged the use of the yellow card reporting system for over-the-counter sales where appropriate.