The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 278 No 7445 p365
31 March 2007

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• Pseudoephedrine (3)
• Dispensing
• Remote supervision
• White Paper (3)
• Product promotion
• Children's medicines

Letters to the Editor

Dispensing

“Simple supply service”

From Mr N. A. Szczepaniak, MRPharmS

I found Lin-Nam Wang’s article “How to make a success of MURs” (PJ, 17 March, p315) generally interesting and helpful. However, I was saddened by the statement “The Department of Health and NHS … are no longer willing to pay for simple supply services.”

It is an erroneous view held by some members of the public and, apparently, by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee and the DoH in their contract negotiations, that dispensing is a simple supply function requiring no great knowledge or experience. This contrasts with my view that when dispensing a prescription I am applying hard-earned knowledge to its pharmaceutical and clinical assessment, providing valuable information to the patient and generally contributing to the nation’s health. Of course there are large numbers of long-term repeat prescriptions, but even these require more than an automatic, unthinking supply.

Lest I be mistaken for a pharmaceutical Luddite who wishes to remain hidden in the dispensary, let me say that I am much in favour of advanced pharmacy services. I would love to conduct 400 medicines use reviews but even with four trained dispensers I realise that this is a forlorn hope. I am far too busy providing a “simple supply service” which my patients need but no one appears willing to pay for.

Nigel Szczepaniak
Mansfield, Nottinghamshire

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