The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7405 p719
17 June 2006

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· Women in pharmacy
· Complementary medicine (2)
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· Regulation
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Letters to the Editor

Regulation

A tortuous duplication of effort

From Mr N. L. Wood, FRPharmS

Am I alone in finding it objectionable and over-bureaucratic to have to prove my identity in order to be issued with the “smart card” to access the NHS electronic prescribing system? All pharmacists can prove that they are on a professional register with all the safeguards that entails, including a commitment to confidentiality. Nevertheless my primary care trust requires that I turn up by appointment to have my photograph taken clutching a passport and utility bill before being issued with a card to access the system. At a time when Government agencies have lost criminals who should have been deported, and issued National Insurance numbers to those not entitled to them, is it not strange that highly regulated health workers like pharmacists have to prove who they are a second time. Is this another assault on professional regulation (it clearly cannot be relied on) or just another example of how the NHS wastes resources on excess bureaucracy? Can someone please tell me the rationale for this tortuous duplication of effort; preferably without hiding behind the Data Protection Act?

Nicholas L. Wood
Brentwood, Essex

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