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Letters to the Editor
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The profession
Pharmacists could support young families more
From Miss S. L. Bull, MRPharmS
As a mother and locum pharmacist I am staggered by the number of times
I hear of mothers who have gone to their GP about issues that could easily
be resolved by a trip to the pharmacist, eg, chicken pox, headlice, travel
sickness, diarrhoea and insect bites, to name but a few. They have little
confidence because, although they may be well educated, numerate and
literate, they are ignorant when it comes to minor medical matters. Alternative
advice given to them by their families and friends can also be dubious
or out of date.
These mothers are surprised when I offer them good holistic advice; they
are truly unaware of the services we can offer. They often wish that
they had consulted a pharmacist first and they can feel more empowered
by this approach. They are interested to know about therapies which would
be seen as alternative treatments — again something which pharmacists
may be able to help with and which I would like to see develop.
I am also aware of the problems that mothers can have postnatally (physically,
emotionally and socially) and I think that pharmacists could have more
of a role here. Many women are scared to admit that they are finding
it hard to cope and may not access the treatment they need.
Pharmacists can offer women practical advice about how to look after
themselves and their babies in the first few weeks after birth. Looking
back, even I would have welcomed this. Also, how about regularly updated
support material or leaflets about common problems faced in the early
years of childhood to offer parents, or even workshops? First aid could
be included since this is popular with parents.
I believe that we should support families and present ourselves at antenatal
groups, postnatal groups, schools, etc, to promote ourselves more in
these areas.
I am aware of the immense amount of change to health and pharmacy services
and, although these ideas may not be seen as a priority at present, I
believe that at some point they should be considered.
Sarah Bull
Salisbury, Wiltshire
Provocative issues
From Mr M. C. Harvey, MRPharmS
Two strands of provocative issues have come together in recent editions
of The Journal, directed at the present and future state of pharmacy.
Glyn Kearney, in “Pharmacy’s decline from its zenith to its
nadir” (PJ, 22 July, p102), says “pharmacy is in distress
and it is full of insecure people always afraid of wrong doing”.
Are we that defensive as a profession? Yes, maybe, because I regularly
see pharmacists commenting on policy beginning with the phrase “I
suspect”. Negative thinking is a prime feature of new-age pharmacy.
The second strand of this issue is encapsulated in the review of “Career
choices, working patterns and the future pharmacy workforce” (PJ,
29 July, pp137–8). The astounding feature of this review is the
complete lack of any suggestion that a trained pharmacist, a scientist,
could engage in rewarding work in the pharmaceutical industry. It is
regrettable since it underlines, yet again, how the myopia of pharmacists’ thinking
continually fails to accept and recognise the part played by a thriving
pharmaceutical industry in much of their working lives. It might be proposed
that pharmacies would hardly have work if it were not for the enterprise
of the industry.
Why, therefore, is so little done by careers’ tutors to develop
the interest of pharmacy graduates in an industrial career? The opportunities
for their talents are limitless, from communication or management, right
through to production and molecular drug research.
Pharmacists who make this career choice can believe that their futures
are not heading for the kind of insecure world described by Mr Kearney.
M. C. Harvey
Chichester, West Sussex
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal