Secure electronic forms needed for MUR success
Paper-based medicines use reviews do not work because they are not automatically added to patients' notes at their GP practice, according to Howard Stoate, chairman of the All-Party Pharmacy Group. MURs, along with
independent prescribing and other issues, were discussed during a question
and answer session with health minister Jane Kennedy at an APPG meeting
in London this week.
Dr Stoate, who is also a GP in Kent, said that, in his experience, paper
MUR forms are not always added to patients’ notes when they reach
the GP practice. This, he says, is in contrast to blood test results,
for example, which automatically become integrated into the correct part
of a patient’s electronic notes, with appropriate comments added
to alert GPs to unusual results. Last week,
the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee warned pharmacists
not to e-mail MUR forms
to GPs because of concerns over confidentiality
(PJ, 21 January, p61).
Graham Phillips, a community pharmacist, suggested that to make the MUR
form more helpful for GPs, an interim solution could be to code recommendations
to fit in with GP practice systems.
Jeanette Howe, deputy chief pharmaceutical officer for England, agreed
that information should be able to be sent electronically, and should
be coded. “That is where we want to get to. It is about putting
in place elements of the IT programme to get there. We need to achieve
that alongside what is a massive IT programme.” She assured the
meeting that the DoH is fully aware of the situation and needs to work
with NHS Connecting for Health to find a solution.
Ms Kennedy announced that 30,000 MURs have now been completed by community
pharmacists in England. Some participants were concerned that, since
it is unlikely that the expected number of MURs will be carried out within
the first year of the new contract, the money initially allocated to
this service would be lost. Alastair Buxton, head of NHS services at
the PSNC later told The Journal that the PSNC is actively discussing
this issue with the DoH but has not yet reached an agreement. The need
for incentives for doctors to refer patients to pharmacists for MURs
was also raised.
Independent prescribing and practice-based commissioning were also discussed
with the minister. In response to concerns about access to scarce NHS
resources for pharmacist independent prescribers, Ms Kennedy confirmed
that independent prescribing will be a commissioned service. “There
will be a degree of management of services and funding will follow the
contracts,” she said. Regarding practice-based commissioning, Ms
Kennedy said that she wants to see pharmacists sitting alongside GPs
and others to make sure that the services they wish to offer are on the
agenda for commissioners. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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