Government rejects Society preference for Health Bill
Calls by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society for the changes to the supervision requirements in pharmacies to be set out in the Health Bill currently being considered by Parliament have been rejected.
The Department of Health is insisting that the changes be made through
Regulations so that they are easier to make, particularly as technologies
develop that might allow pharmacists to supervise work from remote locations.
The DoH view is explained in an information paper published this week
in electronic form (PDF 160K).
The paper says that remote supervision by telephone only is inappropriate
because pharmacists will not be able to see what is being dispensed or
verify what they are being told. However, it adds that new technologies,
such as bar coding, robotics and video links, will advance rapidly and
that these could allow pharmacists to supervise work properly when not
actually present.
The information paper sets out a general rule that every pharmacy should
have a responsible pharmacist on duty at all times and that this person
should only be responsible for one set of premises. It leaves open the
possibility that future circumstances might make exceptions to the rule
sensible. Possibilities include responsibility for medicines vending
machines at other premises (which would have to be registered as pharmacies)
and temporary pharmacies at large events. Temporary absence from the
premises would be allowed, subject to tightly drawn regulations.
Qualification requirements for responsible pharmacists are also proposed,
including the possibility of a minimum number of years on the Register
and prior experience of community pharmacy. Stakeholders will be consulted
on this to ensure that new rules are not introduced before anyone can
comply with them.
One of the principal purposes of the planned changes is to make better
use of the wider pharmacy workforce by releasing pharmacists from tasks
that other staff can undertake. But the information paper makes it clear
that two functions will be reserved for pharmacists. These are the clinical
assessment of new prescriptions or repeat prescriptions where there has
been a change to a patient’s condition or any one of their medicines,
and the approval of formulations when anything is to be extemporaneously
dispensed.
David Pruce, the Society’s director of practice and quality improvement,
said that the key issue so far as the Society was concerned was that
a responsible pharmacist should only be responsible for one pharmacy.
In terms of whether details should be set out in the forthcoming Act
or in Regulations, he said: “If the Government does decide to go
down the path of Regulations, we would hope that the Regulations will
be compatible with what the Society wants.” |
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