The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 271 No 7273 p603
1 November 2003

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PCTs waiting for out-of-hours guidance

Long-awaited guidance on out-of-hours medication services will be published “shortly”, according to the Department of Health. Many primary care trusts are waiting for this guidance, which is expected to include an out-of-hours formulary, to help with planning out-of-hours provision. Georgina Thomas, pharmaceutical adviser for West of Cornwall PCT told The Journal: “We are waiting for the guidance to confirm the areas in which pharmacy can be involved. This is important to us bearing in mind we are a rural area and patients have more difficulty accessing services.”

At the end of September, GP practices had to inform their PCTs whether they intended to opt out of providing out-of-hours services under the terms of the new GP contract. Out-of-hours services will remain the responsibility of individual GPs until April 2004, and PCTs are required to take over this responsibility from 31 December 2004 at the latest. Sue Sharpe, chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, said: “There is a need to reorganise out-of-hours cover, particularly at weekends when pharmacies normally open. We are concerned about the impact of proposed out-of-hours arrangements on the viability for pharmacies of opening outside normal shopping hours, for example during evenings. We have been raising concerns with the Department of Health and will continue to do so.”

John D’Arcy, chief executive of the National Pharmaceutical Association told The Journal: “The fact that PCTs have started doing baseline assessments of who will be opting out of out-of-hours provision under the new GP contract underscores the need for us to have sight of the guidance as soon as possible.”