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	The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 271 No 7258 p82 19 July 2003	This page Reprint Photocopy
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Letters to the Editor

Veterinary pharmacy

Why has the diploma been suspended?

From Mr A. Pothecary

The Marsh report recommended that pharmacists should have greater involvement in the supply of medicines (purchased and prescribed) to animals. I hope to join the register next month and believe that I do not have the necessary knowledge to respond to symptoms in animals, or to become involved in the larger scale dispensing of veterinary prescriptions that the report envisages. The only teaching in this area I received as an undergraduate covered the legal necessities involved in supplying products against a veterinary prescription.

This is an area that particularly interests me and represents another new role for community pharmacists. It is a role in which we would not compete with other practitioners for the right to offer the new services we are best qualified to provide, and which all community pharmacists could provide, independent of the agenda of their local primary care trusts. Furthermore, it would improve the image of the profession and could be a valuable additional source of income. In addition, the National Pharmaceutical Association has been encouraging members to consider becoming involved in this area of practice.

Bearing all this in mind, I decided that I would like to undertake some further training in this area, and so contacted the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to ask about the Diploma in Agricultural and Veterinary Pharmacy. I was informed that the Society had suspended the course and that if it is reinstated, this will be advertised in The Journal. To my knowledge, this is the only course of its kind on offer and I believe that it is not a wise move on the part of the Society to suspend it, bearing in mind that it is expected that the proposals of the Marsh report will be implemented soon. The diploma was and could be a valuable resource to those members of the profession who want to start practising in this area, and I fear that we will be unprepared when customers approach us for advice on the care of their animals.

I am curious to know why the diploma has been suspended.

Andy Pothecary
Portsmouth

Liz Griffiths, secretary, Veterinary Pharmacists’ Group, replies:

During the past six years, the Society’s Veterinary Pharmacists’ Group (VPG) has been committed to promoting veterinary pharmacy at every opportunity. Although the group is relatively small, it nevertheless plays an active role in all animal health related matters — both in the United Kingdom and in the European Union.

The VPG has committed a great deal of time and resource into promoting the pharmacy profession to the recent Marsh and Competition Commission inquiries. The recommendations, subsequently proposed by both inquiries, will offer not only an improved service to the public but exciting new opportunities to pharmacists wishing to become involved in veterinary pharmacy in the future.

The Society recognised the need for specialised training in veterinary pharmacy many years ago. The Society wishes to assure its members that it has remained committed to the diploma ever since. However, the VPG identified a need to revise the syllabus and agreed to make it more user friendly at the same time, by converting the companion animal module into a distance learning package. The new diploma will also complement a new textbook, dedicated to veterinary pharmacy, that will be available from the Pharmaceutical Press from 1 December.

All this has taken time. However, the Society is delighted to announce that the new updated and revised Diploma in Agricultural and Veterinary Pharmacy will be available in January 2004. It will provide pharmacists with an invaluable knowledge base with which they can venture confidently into the field of veterinary pharmacy.

Readers interested in the diploma or wanting additional advice and information relating to veterinary pharmacy matters, can contact me on 020 7572 2409 (e-mail lgriffiths@rpsgb.org.uk).

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