Role for pharmacists in National Programme for IT
Pharmacist can help develop electronic prescribing |
Pharmacists have the opportunity to play a part in developing the multi-million pound National
Programme for IT for the NHS.
The NPfIT wants to recruit
clinicians, including pharmacists, to work
on secondment for at least two days a week for the next six to 12 months.
Locum costs will be covered.
They must have an interest in health informatics and would be expected
to help with programme design on national initiatives, which include
the electronic patient care record and electronic prescribing.
Pharmacists, and other clinicians, will also have the opportunity to
explain what functions they expect systems to perform and also help come
up with case studies and clinical scenarios to test the programme.
Secondment arrangements will be flexible, the NPfIT says. Options include
full-time sabbaticals or being attached to the programme for one week
every month.
NPfIT clinical champions
A team of six clinical champions appointed
by the NPfIT will be responsible for communicating between the
programme and the
NHS.
No champion
specifically represents pharmacy, although one represents the
allied health professionals. Lindsay McClure, head of information
services
at the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee said: “We
believe that pharmacy is of sufficient importance to the national
programme’s success that the pharmacy profession should
have its own national clinical lead.” |
The clinical areas where help is needed are prescribing,
accident and emergency, out-of-hours and diagnostic imaging. Clinicians
are also needed
to help develop the central data spine and the collection of basic patient
information as well as helping to bring together non-clinical data on
the patient record for use in meeting NHS targets and other health service
developments.
Hospital pharmacist and IT specialist Richard Eyles welcomed the NPfIT’s
decision to recruit clinicians. He said: “It’s a good way
of getting clinicians involved who are interested in the NPfIT, although
I am concerned that if the people who come forward are specialists, it
may be difficult to get cover for their expertise for two days a week,
which is big commitment.”
Mr Eyles, principal pharmacist computer services for Portsmouth Hospitals
NHS Trust, said pharmacists have a role to play in helping develop electronic
prescribing: “They can help with marrying up what pharmacies need
with clinical needs. It’s all about developing pathways which lead
to the prescribing decisions that they can help with, which would include
formulary development and policy.”
“I would also like to see pharmacists helping with the development
of IT support for prescription reviews and not having to resort to pen
and
paper when a review is needed.”
Pharmacists have until 28 February to register an interest in being seconded
to the NPfIT.
A spokesman for NPfIT said so far about 30 clinicians, including several
pharmacists, had expressed an interest. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
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