The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 278 No 7448 p460
21 April 2007

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• White Paper (5)
• Pseudoephedrine (2)
• Eczema
• Chemotherapy
• Community pharmacy (2)
• Locum pharmacy
• Packaging
• Dispensing
• MDS
• Parallel imports
• Prescription charges
• The Society
• Skill mix
• Professionalism
• Boots travel insurance

Letters to the Editor

Skill mix

Is there evidence to support the Society’s policy?

From Mr B. D. Nathwani, MRPharmS

It is clear from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s answer to my letter (PJ, 17 March, p310) that there is no evidence to support the Society’s “policy” position that a pharmacist can be safely absent from a pharmacy and that support staff can be relied upon diligently to follow standard operating procedures.

• Has the Society tried to commission any research in this matter in its strategic five-year research programme, which seems to be obsessed in pushing a skill mix agenda based on flawed assumptions?

• Can we know the date when this policy on absent pharmacists was decided by the Council and who was the author of the information paper on which this policy paper was based?

• Can we have confirmation from the Society that it has carried out an impact assessment on this policy (and the date when this was carried out), as is good practice with all well run regulatory bodies?

• Can we also have details on how the Society’s patient involvement policy was used and the input of patient groups (the Society was asked to do this in February 2006 when I was a member of Council) and consumer groups like the Consumers Association before arriving at this policy?

• What is the equality and diversity impact of this policy?

I ask these questions because in all probability the Society will have failed to carry out any of these basic tasks.

Is this level of corporate, strategic and practice failure acceptable in a body charged to protect the public?

Bharat Nathwani
Pinner, Middlesex

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