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Letters to the Editor
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New technologies
Smart card, smart idea?
From Mr N. Iqbal, MRPharmS
I have looked through a number of articles covering new technologies
and one that seems to be raising a number of issues, concerning accountability
and access to the NHS system, is the smart card.
Many health care professionals believe that the infrastructure relating to
this new venture could be handled with a lot more care. One point that has
arisen is how primary care trusts will deal with the locum workforce, whose
members work under a number of PCT jurisdictions, when issuing smart cards.
Will locums have to register with each PCT in order to work in that area? From
what I have heard from a number of PCTs, the first rollout will be to community
pharmacy, so the resident pharmacist will have access to the NHSnet. But what
about the accountability issue when the resident pharmacist is not working?
Will locum pharmacists have access to the pharmacy smart card and, then, who
is responsible?
As a community pharmacist, I believe that we should have a national rollout
in conjunction with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and PCTs, allowing all
pharmacists who require these cards to be issued one appropriately so as to
allow this new system to work in the interest of patients and improve access
to health care.
Furthermore, could the smart card become a means of identification for pharmacists
rather than the current registration certificate?
Naveed Iqbal
Birmingham |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal