Pharmacists need more support and better incentives to improve public health advice
Following the report by Which? magazine criticising the advice
given in some community pharmacies, there have been calls for more financial
support, training and standards, and incentives to help pharmacists provide
better public health information.
Terry Maguire, vice-chairman of PharmacyHealthLink, said: “Pharmacists
can offer advice in subtle ways. It is not about finger wagging. Use
motivational interviewing techniques, provide information and then let
people draw their own conclusions.”
He called on the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to set more explicit standards
for pharmacists and their staff about giving advice to the public. “The
issue of privacy with pharmacies is a huge one. The profession and the
Government need to address this by coming up with standards.” The
new contracts for community pharmacy offered opportunities for the Government
to invest in pharmacy premises, he said.
This has been backed by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee.
Pharmacies will be able to offer a medicines use review service as an
advanced service under the new contract. In order to do so, they will
need accreditation of relevant training and appropriate facilities.
John D’Arcy, chief executive of the National Pharmaceutical Association,
said: “While recognising the limitations of small-scale studies
of this nature, we must heed the underlying messages. We note particularly
that pharmacists need to do more to improve confidentiality in the pharmacy — and
they also need to be more visible and accessible to the public, rather
than buried away in the dispensary. We welcome the observation that the
Government needs to provide more investment in community pharmacy to
enhance pharmacists’ professional roles.”
The Government response was given by Health Minister Rosie Winterton,
who noted the £4.5m it was investing in continuing education and
training programmes for pharmacists and their staff. Pharmacy employers
also needed to invest in the knowledge and skills of their staff, she
added, “and many already have such programmes in place”. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal