Supplementary prescribing funding concerns remain
Supplementary prescribing is moving forward in Scotland, although funding remains an issue, according to Campbell Shimmins, of Doune, Perthshire, the first
community pharmacist to write a supplementary prescription one year ago (PJ, 8 May 2004, p559).
Mr Shimmins told The Journal that his year as a supplementary prescriber
has been relatively problem free, with the main issues concerning him
being funding and time management. He explained that his pharmacy is
currently a pilot site for a repeat dispensing scheme in which the pharmaceutical
care of a patients who are stable on their medicines is signed over to
the pharmacist for six months. Mr Shimmins said that he hopes this will
evolve into a model that could be combined with supplementary prescribing.
However, he noted that after April next year funding for supplementary
prescribers is uncertain.
Alison Strath, of the pharmacy strategy implementation team at the Scottish
Executive, commented that there are currently 380 pharmacists in Scotland
qualified or waiting to qualify as supplementary prescribers. Many of
these pharmacists are ready to develop their practice and are waiting
for an announcement about funding to support this, she said.
Frank Owens, chairman of the Scottish Pharmaceutical General Council,
said that he was pleased with the progress pharmacist practitioners are
making. “The SPGC is currently in discussion with the Scottish
Executive health department with a view to agreeing funding to allow
the introduction of pharmacist-led supplementary prescribing clinics,” he
said.
Mr Owens added that he expected to be in a position to advise on the
outcome of these discussions in the near future. |
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