MPs shown potential of IT links between pharmacies and GPs

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The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 275 No 7379 p713
10 December 2005

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MPs shown potential of IT links between pharmacies and GPs

Howard Stoate and Dilip Joshi

Dilip Joshi, right, explains to Howard Stoate how his pharmacy’s network link to a local GP surgery works

Howard Stoate, Labour MP for Dartford and chairman of the All-Party Pharmacy Group, and Doug Naysmith, Labour and Co-operative MP for Bristol North West and a member of the APPG, were this week shown the possibilities opened up by direct IT links between pharmacies and GP surgeries.

During a visit to Boss Pharmacy in Clapham, London, the MPs looked at a system which allows Dilip Joshi and his colleagues to carry out supplementary prescribing for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. “The system is directly linked to the GPs’ surgery, which is what I’ve been calling for for years. This shows it is possible,” Dr Stoate said.

The records of 70 patients on the scheme’s database can be accessed from the pharmacy and updated during medicines use reviews. Mr Joshi hopes in the future to expand the scheme to cover coronary heart disease and diabetes.