The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 272 No 7290 p304
13 March 2004

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Your four-legged friends more
Why paying fees this year was not perfect more

Your four-legged friends

It is thought that as many as 500,000 visits to UK pharmacies are made daily by people who own a pet, or a companion animal, as they are now properly known. But how many pharmacists have ever sold a veterinary product to a pet owner or given health advice about their customers' four-legged (and other) companions? Although many pharmacists may answer ad hoc enquiries about pet health, relatively few pharmacies have areas or sections in their premises dedicated to pets.

Now is the time to rethink this strategy. This issue of The Journal is devoted to various aspects of veterinary pharmacy explaining why there has never been a better time to engage in veterinary health care. We publish in our Agenda for 2004 section, an article that outlines the opportunities for enterprising pharmacists this year, on the basis of the expected reclassification of many veterinary medicines and the changing professional relationship between veterinary surgeons and pharmacists (p320). We also profile a pharmacist who has a well-established veterinary pharmacy business and suggests how pharmacists interested in expanding their own practice in this area and exploiting the business opportunity could follow suit (p321).

This week, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has also announced that it is relaunching its diploma in veterinary pharmacy (p333), coinciding with the publication of the textbook ‘Veterinary pharmacy’ by the Pharmaceutical Press next week. Pharmacists can gain a certificate in companion animal health by completing half the diploma course (p326) and that will give them the necessary background to have the confidence to establish a pet medicines advisory service.

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Why paying fees this year was not perfect

To judge by the number of letters received by The Journal, the difficulties encountered by members this year is unprecedented. We have published a selection of letters in previous weeks (3/10 January and 24 January), but decided not to publish others since they all told the same story. The problems have been recognised by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and in this week's issue (p334) there is an explanation of why the new system has fallen short and also an apology for any distress that has been caused.

While some pharmacists have clearly been concerned to receive letters demanding payment of fees that they have already made, many more pharmacists than in previous years have responded quickly and paid within a few weeks of the due date of 1 January. In this respect, the new system can be judged a success: the higher the proportion of fees paid on time, the less time, effort and money is wasted on chasing late payers.

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