The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7194 p543
20 April 2002

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  Supervision
  Checking technicians
  Drug-herb interactions
  NHS
  Community pharmacy
  Hospital pharmacy
  Prison pharmacy
  The Profession
  Wholesaling
  CPD
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Letters to the Editor

Prison pharmacy

Good practice must be recognised

From Miss D. I. Tait, MRPharmS

As a pharmacist working for HM Prison Service since 1993 I was pleased to see the news feature (PJ, 30 March. p427) that focused on the positive aspects of prison pharmacy service developments in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The article implied that the current review of pharmacy services in prisons in England and Wales by the Prison Service and the Department of Health might have much to learn from these models.

The Scottish Prison Service has indeed made good progress since February 2000 when the Moss contract for pharmaceutical services became operational. However, it should be noted that at this time the Prison Service in England and Wales had been implementing similar models for some 10 years. Following critical reports from the Chief Inspector of Prisons in 1988 and 1991 a rapid workforce expansion and much innovation led to the services currently operating in many Welsh and English prisons. Steve Crago at HMP Bristol outlined these in the article.

The background to these changes and details of current services were published in Hospital Pharmacist in April 1999.¹ As co-author of this article I expressed the hope that the (then current) review of prison health care would recognise the important roles of pharmacists and technicians within the multidisciplinary health care team and that professional representation for pharmacists be reinstated at policy level. This was not to be. The resulting report² made mention to pharmacy in only two paragraphs.

Since the former post of head pharmacist was lost in 1996 (not two years ago as stated in the PJ article) prison service pharmacists have been campaigning for service review and development.

I would like to hope that the latest review, about to be circulated for consultation, will at last recognise the good practice in many prisons and give prison service pharmacists the proper mechanisms to standardise and develop services for prisoners throughout England and Wales.

Diana Tait
Cardiff

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