| This publication has been commissioned by the New Health Network as
part of a programme of research and education, which it hopes will be
of use to everyone committed to strengthening the NHS.
The New Health Network is an independent, not-for-profit organisation
which promotes sustainable health service modernisation that benefits
all patients and the public health. Several high profile writers state
the case of the impact of patient choice, a concept predicted to be embedded
in NHS culture by 2010. The publication features a number of issues,
such as public expectation, primary care, general practice, primary care
trusts, foundation trusts, living with long-term conditions and the quality
and safety of patient care. Emergency care, hospital physicians and NHS
staff are also covered.
The book is supported by Boots The Chemists; it was interesting therefore
to read the excellent contribution about the impact on community pharmacy
by Digby Emson, pharmacy superintendent. He discusses the technological
revolution and the impact of the national programme for IT and its implementation.
He describes how it might look for patients and how they will have more
choice and better access and treatment options from their local pharmacy.
He suggests that in 2010 it would make sense for pharmacies to be NHS
walk-in centres, where patients would benefit from better, more appropriate
and individually tailored care, responding to their needs.
This, then, is a timely collection of essays from key opinion formers
offering a range of diverse and individual perspectives on the impact
of patient choice. With the forward written by John Reid, Secretary of
State for Health, and his belief in empowerment, it makes thought provoking
reading for anyone from students to chief executives interested in the
future NHS.
Gill Hawksworth
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal