All-Party Pharmacy Group
The All-Party Pharmacy Group will need to be
re-formed once members of Parliament have been sworn in, which
was taking place as The Journal went to press.
All-party
groups cease to exist when Parliament is dissolved. They need to
have a minimum of 10 members from the Government
party and 10 other members, of whom at least six must be from the
official Opposition party. Four of the group’s qualifying members
stood down at the general election and one lost his seat.
The process
of re-forming the group is already under way and no difficulties
are expected because the group was one of the largest in the previous
Parliament. This was because so many pharmacists encouraged their
MPs to join. |
Now that the dust is beginning to settle after the general election, pharmacists
and pharmacy organisations will be looking at the new ministerial team
at the Department of Health and considering the possible implications for
the profession and their practice.
One change in particular might worry community pharmacists: the new Secretary
of State for Health is Patricia Hewitt. When she was Secretary of State
for Trade and Industry, she championed within Government the Office of
Fair Trading’s recommendation that NHS pharmacy services should be
deregulated and left to market forces.
The National Pharmaceutical Association, for example, is concerned that
a promised review of the removal of restrictions on control of entry for
certain types of pharmacies has fallen by the wayside.
“There must be a full review of contract controls,” NPA chairman
Raj Patel said, “not just a decision on whether NHS contracts can
be completely opened up to competition.”
Much of the new community pharmacy contract still remains to be implemented
and the team is bound to have some new priorities.
As well as looking forward to full implementation, the profession is still
waiting for the DoH to consult on its plans for an Order in Council under
Section 60 of the Health Act 1999 to complement the Society’s new
Royal Charter. The Section 60 Order will modernise the Society’s
regulatory processes and is part of the Government’s plan to more
closely align the regulation of the various health professions.
In the hospital service, too, changes are afoot. Outgoing Society President
Nicholas Wood said: “The implementation of Agenda for Change and
its effect on the hospital pharmacy service are issues that the Society
will need to keep careful watch over. We have worked closely with the Guild
of Healthcare Pharmacists to ensure that the use of medicines is better
recognised in the knowledge and skills framework. Now, we shall need to
monitor the outcomes.”
Commenting on the general election, he said: “We are gratified to
see the return of key MPs who have been supportive of our profession and
are looking forward to renewing good working relationships. We are very
pleased to see the return of the only pharmacist in the House, Sandra Gidley,
MP. We are already in the process of contacting the new intake to provide
the opportunity for a briefing on the profession and its issues.”
In this regard, Mr Wood is delighted at the way the Society’s local
branches got in touch with Parliamentary candidates during the election
and pressed the pharmacy message home.
“Pharmacy is much higher on the political agenda than before and
is being taken into account,” he said.
Mr Wood believes that the Government’s reduced majority in the House
of Commons will have some impact on policies and will drive a move towards
more consensual
policies.
“But what that means for pharmacy remains to be seen,” he said.
Mr Wood sees the drive towards patient choice continuing, saying: “Pharmacists
and pharmacies will be well placed because they offer a choice of practitioners
and providers.”
He says that supplementary and independent prescribing will result in a
higher profile for pharmacists, which the Society will be able to exploit.
Neither of these is reliant on any policy developments by the new Government.
Despite the hiatus caused by the general election, pharmacy leaders seem
confident that implementation of the new community pharmacy contract will
continue as planned.
Barry Andrews, chairman of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee,
expects the previous Government’s enthusiasm for the new contract
to continue. He said: “I really do believe that it’s going
to happen. … I hope that [Patricia Hewitt] will see it as a winner.”
Mr Andrews expects that community pharmacies will increasingly be used
for health promotion and will promote self care. “This will not replicate
the previous paternalistic model of care,” he said.
Aspects of the new contract are high on Mr Andrews’s wish list, as
well as informing his expectations for the future.
Top of his wish list is a desire to see primary care trusts make full use
of pharmacy services. Closely following this — and clearly related
to it — is the development of a relevant package of enhanced new
contract
services.
Expectations at the NPA are similar to those at the PSNC, but the reaction
to the appointment of Mrs Hewitt as health secretary is blunter.
“We’ve already crossed swords with Mrs Hewitt,” Mr Patel
said. “At
that point, we were seeking to persuade her that community pharmacy is
about health and not competition. I hope that she will get the right balance.”
But the NPA believes that the potential of community pharmacy will only
be achieved if the Government is prepared to invest in it. One area where
this is necessary is IT.
“This is far broader than electronic prescription transfer alone,” Mr
Patel said. “We need proper
functionality with support and communications with other parts of the NHS.
This means full access to large chunks of the NHS network. We need the
consultation document on access to patient records and we need it soon.”
Also high on the NPA wish list for the new Government is some national
guidance on interpreting the new contract. One area of concern is the way
different PCTs are interpreting the requirement that conversations in pharmacy
consultations areas should not be overheard. Some believe that this means
a consultation area can only be a closed room.
“We’re in favour of a light touch. Pharmacy is a very regulated
profession,” Mr
Patel said. “We don’t want it to be over-prescriptive, but
the idea of some national guidance is a good principle. We need a range
of options.”
Howard Stoate, Labour member of Parliament for Dartford and chairman of
the All-Party Pharmacy Group, believes that pharmacy now has an opportunity
for development that it has not had before.
“I hope that pharmacy will continue to grow in stature and importance
and that it will be used for the delivery of new services in the NHS,” Dr
Stoate said. “Pharmacy is coming of age and has an opportunity to
show what it is capable of. The ball is firmly in the profession’s
court and the sky is the limit. I’m looking forward to a period of
genuine growth. More and more constituency MPs are aware of what pharmacy
can do and what it can offer for NHS delivery.”
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal