Patients who need an MDS might not get one
Patients who need monitored dosage systems to help them take their medicines properly might not get them because of the combined effect of the new pharmacy contract and the Disability Discrimination Act, the National Pharmacy Association has warned.
This is because primary care trusts are
reconsidering local schemes to pay for of MDSs. The new contract includes
provision for any “reasonable adjustments”, including MDSs,
necessary to give disabled people the same level of service as others.
This, the NPA fears, will deny MDSs to people who need them but who are
not disabled. It also says that the time, space and cost implications
of providing MDSs could mean that they are not “reasonable adjustments”.
Raj Patel, NPA chairman, said: “The whole issue is complicated
and confusing. The DDA has been in force since 1995, well before the
introduction of the new contract. All that is new is that the Government
has recognised (as part of the cost of service model) the need for some
financial contribution to help cover pharmacists’ costs in meeting
their obligations under the Act.”
He added that there would still be a need for MDSs for many patients
not covered by the Act and that this needed to be funded. This could
be by commissioning an enhanced service under the new contract, by commissioning
from social services departments or by GPs issuing seven-day
prescriptions. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader