Is April the cruellest month?
Some pharmacists may be relieved that, although the new community pharmacy contracts in England and Wales came into effect on a Friday in April, it was the first day of the month and not a Friday the 13th. But there will be those who enjoy the irony of implementation on All Fools’ Day.
There are some pharmacists who are not as prepared for the changes as
they might wish. For a start, they are concerned about how they are going
to change their premises in order to accommodate a consultation area
(p383).
Other pharmacists see the new contract as a disaster. Top of that list
are those who dispense fewer than 2,000 items a month and who are set
to lose as much as £18,000 per annum. Although multiples may be
able to capitalise on this by providing a range of clinical services
in premises that are not dispensing factories, sole contractors are likely
to find the going tough. There are fears that many of them will sell
up, notwithstanding their concerns that the local population will lose
a core service.
To add to that, many community pharmacists will now be worried about
the impact of GlaxoSmithKline’s decision to reduce discounts on
certain products, which has been followed by a similar move by generics
manufacturer IVAX (p381) and which may be followed by others in due course.
In three months’ time, everything will look different. Those pharmacists
who have been on tenterhooks for years, waiting for a new contract to
transform their professional lives, will be providing the kind of care
for patients and customers that they have previously dreamt about.
For the rest, whatever their views now, the future will look much less
hazy. Those who are not at all prepared at the moment, should have a
clear idea of what they have to achieve by the end of September — when
the transition period between contracts comes to an end. And even those
who believe that they cannot survive under the new regime may find themselves
pleasantly surprised.
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Cast your vote before it is too late
With just over a week to go before the election to the reconstituted Council of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society closes, time is running out for those who have not yet voted. This year has been the first time that canvassing has been
permitted although, as far as The Journal is concerned, this is restricted
to the writing of two letters for publication. What will be of interest is
whether it will have made any difference to the turn-out. Will a higher percentage
of pharmacists vote? And, in the past, there have been seven pharmacy places
available each year but, with 17 places available this year, will the way they
vote be affected?
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