MEP 29th edition gives new practice guidance
The 28th edition of ‘Medicines, ethics and practice: A guide for pharmacists’ has now been published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. As well as updating the information in the 27th edition, it includes new practice guidance relating to pharmacy support staff and to supplementary prescribing by pharmacists.
This new information appears in Section 3.3 (Improving the quality of
pharmacy practice). A new section 3.3.3 has been added to take account
of the Society’s policy on minimum training and competence requirements
for pharmacy support staff as from January 2005. It describes the regulatory
framework being put into place for pharmacy technicians and sets out
the new professional requirements for the training of dispensing/pharmacy
assistants as well as the existing requirements relating to the competence
of medicines counter assistants.
A new section 3.3.4 summarises the policy framework for supplementary
prescribing by pharmacists and the requirements for pharmacists who wish
to be registered as supplementary prescribers.
In Part 1 of the guide, which covers general legal requirements, the
main changes in the new edition are in Section 1.2 (Medicines for human
use), which includes new information on midwives and Controlled Drugs,
on NHS prescriptions for the treatment of addicts and on the supply of
Controlled Drugs to addicts. In addition, Section 1.4 (Non-medicinal
poisons) includes new information relating to the sale or supply of strychnine.
‘Medicines, ethics and practice’ is published by the Society
as a day-to-day reference source for practising pharmacists. Copies of
the
new edition are being sent direct to members with registered addresses
in Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, other than those
who pay the reduced retention fee for members aged over 60 years who
are not in gainful employment. Copies are also being sent to preregistration
trainees and, in bulk, to all UK schools of pharmacy.
Additional copies are available from the Pharmaceutical Press, Customer
Services, PO Box 151, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8QU (tel 01491 829272;
fax 01491 829292; e-mail: rpsgb@cabi.org). Copies may also be ordered
online at www.pharmpress.com. The guide costs £12.95, including
postage and packing.
The Society’s Fitness to Practise and Legal Affairs Directorate
reminds pharmacists that it is a requirement of the Society’s Code
of Ethics that the current edition of the guide should be available for
consultation in all dispensaries. It says that pharmacists should not
rely on information and guidance given in previous editions, which may
no longer be accurate.
Given below are the first additions to the list of medicines for human
use included in the new edition. Cumulative
lists of additions and amendments will be printed in The Journal in the first issue of each month.
Abilify tablets POM
Imigran Radis tablets POM
Levemir preparations POM
Strattera capsules POM
Striant tablets POM
Correction
This news item wrongly referred to an out-of-date Code of Ethics requirement that the current edition of ‘Medicines, ethics and practice: A guide for pharmacists’should be available in all dispensaries. |
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal