The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7245 p557
19 April 2003

Society summary

Manifesto for Wales calls for better use of community pharmacists' expertise

A Royal Pharmaceutical Society manifesto for pharmacy in Wales calls for action from the Welsh Assembly Government to make better use of community pharmacists' expertise in the interest of the patient. It says that simple actions could make full use of pharmacists' skills and abilities to improve the health of the population of Wales. The manifesto has been produced by the Society's Welsh Executive to coincide with this year's elections to the National Assembly for Wales.

A section on information and communication says that pharmacists are ideally situated to provide advice and information and many health issues. To provide the most appropriate and up-to-date information they need to be included in the loop of NHS information and communication technology via the NHS Cymru web.

The manifesto goes on to state that general practitioners spend a third of their time dealing with minor illnesses that could be handled by pharmacists, often for patients who seek a prescription because they cannot afford to buy a non-prescription medicine. This burden on GPs could be removed by allowing pharmacists to prescribe for minor ailments on the NHS.

On substance misuse, the manifesto says that some people on treatment programmes benefit from taking their daily methadone under supervision. The government should promote the use of the nationally accepted supervision model based on a four-way agreement drawn up between patient, drug-team key-worker, GP and pharmacist.

On medication management, the manifesto asks the government to support the implementation of a medication management system, using the expertise of both hospital and community pharmacists to ensure seamless care when patients move between primary and secondary care.