The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 278 No 7438 p154
10 February 2007

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News summary

Repeat dispensing uptake disappointing, say officials

Jeanette Howe and Keith Ridge, senior pharmacy officials at the Department of Health, have expressed some disappointment over progress on implementation of the new contract, particularly repeat dispensing. They were giving evidence at the All-Party Pharmacy Group's seventh session of its inquiry into the future of pharmacy.

In response, Howard Stoate, the group’s chairman, said that the general medical services contract had worked for GPs because they had been incentivised to perform and completely change how they saw chronic disease management. “Wouldn’t it be better to have a QOF [quality outcomes framework] in the pharmacy contract? I have got a vision of this,” he said. QOFs had made a huge difference in a short time, he added.

Mrs Howe said that they had looked at a QOF during the negotiations. “We can look at it again and at the input that pharmacists can have, and identify what it is that pharmacists can contribute, distinct from others.”