Then six came along at once
We wait for weeks for news and then, like buses, announcements all come along at the same time. This week has been like that. Our cover
story
heralding the revised Duthie report into the safe and secure handling
of medicines (p264), the news that the first electronic transmission
of prescription system is now up and running in Yorkshire (p259) and
the local pharmaceutical committees’ annual conference (pp261–2)
are all worthy of comment. In addition guidance on the draft regulations
covering control of entry in
England have been issued and the details
of evidence given by pharmacy organisations on the Smoking, Health
and Social Care (Scotland) Bill have been announced (both on p257).
Had these come up over several weeks they would each have been given
much more coverage than we have room for in this issue.
It would be invidious to pick one of these topics for comment. However,
one other subject — the opening of the consultation over the introduction
of independent prescribing for pharmacists — is arguably the most
significant development of the week (p257).
Many pharmacists, particularly those in the community who are grappling
with the intricacies of the new contract, worrying about their IT needs
and wondering where they will find the extra hours to carry on their
day jobs, may raise their eyebrows in despair. But there will be an equal
number of pharmacists, if not more, who see this development as the missing
link that will ensure they will be recognised as indispensable members
of the health care team.
The essence of independent prescribing, as envisaged by the consultation,
is to enable pharmacists — and, as a consequence, other health
professionals — to make full use of their extensive knowledge of
medicines, drug interactions and side effects for the benefit of patients.
Although pharmacists in the community independently prescribe on a day-to-day
basis whenever they recommend a pharmacy-medicine to a customer, the
consultation goes so far as to suggest that they could prescribe anything
listed in the BNF.
The consultation paper documents a number of options for what independent
prescribing by pharmacists might encompass, ranging from “prescribing
for certain conditions from a limited formulary” to “prescribing
for any condition from a full formulary”. It also points out that
different models might be more suitable for different clinical settings
and how much the pharmacist knows about the diagnosis of the condition
presented would determine how unrestricted he or she would be in deciding
which medicines to prescribe. The consultation continues until May and
we encourage all interested pharmacists to respond.
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