The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7236 p213
15 February 2003

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Director of primary care questions pharmacy's influence at national level

Leading National Health Service strategist, Dr David Colin-Thomé indicated earlier this week that the pharmacy profession lacks strong leadership.

Dr Colin-Thomé, the Department of Health's national director of primary care, was speaking at a meeting organised by North East London Local Pharmaceutical Committee. He told the meeting that he recognised the vision and drive of pharmacists but said pharmacists had to have influence at a national level.

"Throwing money at something does not mean that anything will happen unless there is some vision and some personal drive to get it to happen. You have that locally. But the issue is, how do you persuade national bodies that this is the way forward," he said.

During a discussion session, LPC member Imran Khan told Dr Colin-Thomé that pharmacists were begging to improve patient services and improve patient outcomes. He replied: "You might be individually, but where is the leadership in your profession saying that nationally? I do not hear that strongly. That is how ministers get to hear about the commitment of pharmacists — not by a few people doing things at a local level." He added that the Royal Pharmaceutical Society seemed to be moving in the right direction but said something more substantial was needed.

Hemant Patel, secretary of North East London LPC echoed the view that the pharmacy profession lacked strong national leadership. He commented: "Locally we can make sure we have strong characters, each making a sacrifice, quietly doing good work. But they need motivating and they need help. My role is to make sure that the local view is articulated at national level. But if things at national level are diluted then we have to come back and talk to local partners." He added: "As a Past-President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and through my tenure with the PSNC, I hang my head in shame because where there needs to be engagement there ... [are] people wanting to maintain the status quo."

In response to Dr Colin-Thomé's comments, David Thomson, chairman of the Society's Scottish Executive, said: "Clearly if external perception is that we are failing as a profession to make an impact, particularly in the key area of primary care, then this has to be taken seriously. Again lessons may be learnt from observing developments in Scotland. Perhaps not in the leadership aspect, but more in how the various strands of pharmacy have largely combined and united to propose a uniform and consistent approach on how the pharmacy cause is advanced and promoted."

Andrea Robinson, chairman of the Society's Welsh Executive, said: "In Wales we have the advantage that communication links between the [National Assembly] and the professions are much shorter and this enables us to have greater influnce in developing health care policy."

Barry Andrews, chairman of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee rejected the suggestion that pharmacy lacked strong leadership. "As a consequence [of having a number of national pharmacy bodies] there are sometimes divided views," he said. "But this can be an advantage."

He added that the PSNC provided strong leadership. "We have a strong governing principle of collaborative working with other bodies."

No comment was forthcoming from the Society headquarters at Lambeth.