All change! All change!
Pharmacy of the future is nearly here, and all around can be heard the sound of pharmacies and pharmacy organisations having major or minor refurbishments to cope with the expected changes. Those who have not yet started need to think about what they are going to do.
Next year should see major changes in most sectors of pharmacy. For community
pharmacy in England and Wales there is the new contract (2005 in Scotland)
and expected resolution of the issues of generics and control of entry.
For hospitals, there is “Agenda for change” on pay and the
spread of automation. Pharmacists in primary care will see more responsibility
come their way through local contracting for some extended pharmacy services
and the pharmaceutical industry will have a review of the Pharmaceutical
Price Regulation Scheme, even as it tries to understand how all the other
changes will affect the way it sells its products. Meanwhile the Royal
Pharmaceutical Society and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee
are looking at their internal structures, an uncomfortable process for
any organisation.
Predicting how the future will turn out is fraught with difficulty. In
the summer the Department of Health published its “Vision for pharmacy” in
England. Responses from the main pharmacy organisations, issued this
week (p569), show an unusual unanimity as to which parts of this potential
vision of the future they do not like — principally, the idea of
pharmacies without pharmacists and a general lack of hard cash to back
the warm words.
The hardest thing to grasp about the future for pharmacy is just how
different it is likely to be. As our reports on automation in hospital
pharmacy reveal (see p570 and pp590–1), successful implementation
has come through re-engineering, ie, changing how things are done rather
than just adding a few mechanical aids. Re-engineering in hospital pharmacy
has been driven in part by staff shortages. In the community, financial
re-engineering is likely to be the driver for change. There will be a
greater emphasis on earning money from providing services rather than
dispensing. This will mean changes in skill mix and pharmacy layouts,
such as the installation of consultation areas.
In Scotland, the future of pharmacy is closer than in England and Wales.
As we report this week (see p575–6), model schemes are being tested
and extended. Once they have been made workable, they will be incorporated
in to the new contract. A similar approach south of the border might
ease some of the difficulties of change.
For many pharmacists just getting the day job done so that they can go
home can be hard enough. Thinking about change is difficult and often
overlooked but, right at the moment, thinking about the future of pharmacy
and how pharmacists will fit in is more important than ever.
Back to Top
|
