The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 274 No 7351 p639
28 May 2005

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200th PEC pharmacist is appointed in England

Ashley Todd has become the 200th pharmacist to be appointed to a professional executive committee in England. Almost two thirds of primary care trusts now have a PEC pharmacist.

Mr Todd is a member of the committee at South Gloucestershire PCT. He qualified in 1997 and is currently pharmacy manager at Alliance Pharmacy in Yate, Bristol. He applied for the position of PEC pharmacist because he wants to combine practising as a community pharmacist with developing health care policy.

“I hope to raise the profile of pharmacy as a service provider within the PCT and bring my working knowledge of pharmacy to the table. It is important that the PCT understands the reality of pharmacy practice when it is considering how to support pharmacy service development locally,” he says.

John Carr, PEC chair at East Staffordshire PCT, and one of three pharmacists known to The Journal who chair professional executive committees, believes that pharmacy is increasingly being recognised as an important contributor to the achievement of PCT objectives. “PCTs wishing to deliver the new pharmacy contract successfully will find a community pharmacist on the PEC an invaluable asset. Pharmacists deliver the clinical service through effective management skills and some community pharmacists have experience of managing large numbers of people as staff and patients as customers. These skills, together with an innovative approach, will help PECs to derive new ways of working,” he says.

Pharmacists do not have a place by right on PECs in England and the national pharmacy bodies have been working together since 2000 to raise awareness of, and support for, this role. In Wales, the regulations that govern local health boards state that all boards should have a pharmacist member and in Scotland community health partnerships must “as far as is practicable” ensure that at least one community pharmacist is appointed as a member.