The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 271 No 7256 p30
5 July 2003

Society summary

MEP 27th edition includes new guidance on CPD

The 27th edition of 'Medicines, ethics and practice: a guide for pharmacists' has now been published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. As well as updating the information in the 26th edition, it includes two pages of new guidance on improving the quality of pharmacy practice through the use of clinical governance and continuing professional development.

End of 30-hour CE requirement Commenting on the change to Section 3.3 of the MEP, the Society's education division says that replacing the CE requirement with guidance on CPD reflects the fact that pharmacists are now asked to adopt CPD. It adds: "While CPD is based on learning through practice, some of what a pharmacist needs to learn each year is new knowledge. So every pharmacist's CPD needs to include an element of relevant continuing education that is incorporated into their practice. For this reason and also because the CPD roll-out will not reach all pharmacists until the end of 2004, the requirement to participate in some continuing education each year has been retained in the Code of Ethics during this transitional phase."

The new guidance, in Section 3.3, gives a greater emphasis than before on CPD rather than continuing education. The Society's national core sectoral syllabuses for continuing education, which formed a major part of the previous guidance, have now gone, along with the requirement for 30 hours of continuing education a year (see Panel) .

Changes to Section 1 of the guide, which covers legal requirements, include a new section on supplementary prescribers. Other changes since the 26th edition relate to wholesale dealing, prescriptions for Controlled Drugs and the sale or supply of strychnine.

Section 1.3, setting out the legal classifications of medicines for human use, has for the first time been compiled from a new computer database (see above). The development of the database has brought to light some inconsistencies in the existing list, which have now been put right.

'Medicines, ethics and practice' is published by the Society as a day-to-day reference source for practising pharmacists. Copies of the new 128-page edition are being sent direct to members of the Society with registered addresses in Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, other than those who pay the reduced retention fee for members aged over 60 years who are not in gainful employment. Copies are also being sent to preregistration trainees and, in bulk, to all UK schools of pharmacy.

Additional copies of the guide are available for purchase from Pharmaceutical Press, Customer Services, PO Box 151, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8QU, UK (tel 01491 829272; fax 01491 829292; e-mail rpsgb@cabi.org). Copies can also be ordered online at www.pharmpress.com. Copies cost £9.95 each plus £3 postage and packing.

The Society's Professional Standards Directorate reminds pharmacists that it is a requirement of the Society's Code of Ethics that the current edition of the guide should be available for consultation in all dispensaries.

Amendments

Given below is a first list of amendments and additions to the list of medicines for human use included in the new edition. The abbreviations used are explained in the key to annotations in the body of the guide. Cumulative lists of amendments will subsequently be printed in The Journal in the first issue of each month.

4-Androstene-3,17-dione CD anab POM 5-Androstene-3,17-diol CD anab POM

Dihydroetorpine CD POM

Gammahydroxy-butyrate [GHB] CD benz POM

4-Hydroxy-n-butyric acid CD benz POM

Metvix cream POM

19-Nor-4-androstene-3,17-dione CD anab POM

19-Nor-5-androstene-3,17-diol CD anab POM

Remifentanil CD POM

Stilnoct tablets entry should read: Stilnoct tablets CD benz POM

Testogel gel CD anab POM

Ultiva injection entry should read: Ultiva injection CD POM

Zolpidem tartrate entry should read: Zolpidem tartrate CD benz POM