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Letters to the Editor
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PSNC conference
Disappointed with PJ coverage
From Mrs S. J. Gidley, MRPharmS
As a “media tart” I was pleased with the PJ’s
coverage (PDF 40K) of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee’s
conference (PJ, 4 November, p555) on a personal level, but it
might surprise cynics to know that politicians also have one eye on the
bigger picture.
It was therefore disappointing to note that many of the sessions, particularly
those highlighting how pharmacists can make a difference at a grass roots
level, were not covered. Michael Holden, chief officer of Hampshire and
Isle of Wight Local Pharmaceutical Committee, for example, described
how he had engaged with local opinion formers, which held important lessons
for everybody.
A small proportion of the membership left the conference better informed
on issues such as sexual health services, long-term conditions, devising
an urgent care scheme and providing an anticoagulant monitoring service.
It is a shame, however, that all of this was not communicated to the
wider membership.
When I first qualified in 1979 clinical input into The Journal was as
a drop in the ocean. We have come a long way and clinical input has improved
immensely but is it not time that The Journal recognised the reality
of community practice and provided us with real examples of how to provide
new services and rise to the challenge of practice-based commissioning?
At a time when the profession faces both huge challenges and huge opportunities,
the PJ should be our standard bearer. I really must congratulate the
PSNC on an excellent conference which would have been worthy of a PJ supplement. At a time when the whole profession needs to be better informed
on best practice what better than the PJ to showcase the profession and
provide a practical focus?
Sandra Gidley
Member of Parliament
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New services are regularly covered in News features and Visions.
The report of the PSNC community pharmacy conference aimed to focus
on issues
new to our readers. We were only able to send one journalist to the
conference, so it was not possible to cover the whole day, since sets
of breakout
sessions ran concurrently. Readers interested in finding out about sessions
not covered by The Journal can access all the presentations
via the
PSNC
website.
— EDITOR
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal