Views sought on “responsible pharmacist” concept
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is seeking the views of the profession on a proposal to replace the concept of “personal control” in pharmacy with that of a “responsible pharmacist”. The aim is to help prepare the Society for an impending consultation by the Department of Health.
The Department’s proposal is one of a series of planned changes
to the personal control and supervision requirements governing the preparation,
sale and supply of medicines from pharmacies. The purpose of the changes
is to provide a more flexible basis for the development of pharmacy services,
allowing pharmacists and pharmacies to make the best use of available
skills and improve the public’s access to medicines.
The Society is seeking members’ views through a questionnaire
on its Society’s website
Members without internet access can obtain copies of the questionnaire
by contacting Priya Sejpal, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, 1 Lambeth High
Street, London SE1 7JN (tel 020 7572 2481; e-mail priya.sejpal@rpsgb.org).
Members’ views are invited by 29 June 2007.
The webpage begins by explaining the background to the proposed changes.
It says that the changes will be achieved by a combination of amendments
to primary legislation (Medicines Act and NHS legislation), Order-making
powers and new Regulations. Amendments to the Medicines Act 1968 to replace
the concept of “personal control” with that of a “responsible
pharmacist” are to be made through the Health Act 2006.
Once brought
into force, the amendments will establish the overarching requirements
for the preparation, sale and supply of medicines from registered pharmacy
premises. The detail of the parameters and conditions of the new requirements
(eg, parameters for the responsible pharmacist’s absence from the
pharmacy; restrictions on delegation of supervision) and exceptions to
the requirements (eg, circumstances where a pharmacist may be responsible
for more than one pharmacy) will be contained in regulations to be made
under the Act.
The questionnaire asks six questions about the Department of Health proposals
in relation to the responsible pharmacist (see Panel).
To help members formulate their views, the webpage provides links to
the Society’s response to the Department of Health consultation
paper, “Making the best use of the pharmacy workforce” (March
2005), to a Department of Health information paper on the Health Bill
(January 2006), to the Health Act and to a Society policy document on
amending the personal control and supervision requirements of the Medicines
Act 1968 (October 2006).
The Society’s questions
on the responsible pharmacist proposals
1. One proposal is that pharmacists will need
a certain level of experience between registering and becoming
a responsible pharmacist
(between one and three years’ experience has been suggested).
What are your thoughts on this proposal?
2. One of the main reasons given for the changes is to free
pharmacists’ time
from dispensing, allowing them to offer services such as diagnostic
services, medication use reviews and public health promotion. If
the changes happened would you be likely to provide other services
to patients? (If, yes, please provide examples.)
3. To ensure that patient safety and access to pharmacy services
are not compromised, there has been a lot of discussion about the
parameters that will govern the pharmacist’s absence from the
pharmacy. Some pharmacists are concerned about services continuing
safely when there is no pharmacist on the premises while others see
this as a positive step that will enable them to better manage their
time and make better use of their staff’s skills. What are
your thoughts on this? In what circumstances should pharmacists
be able to be absent and what safeguards are needed?
4. Taking into account advances in technology it is proposed that
in the future, pharmacists will be able to supervise pharmacy activities
remotely. What conditions would need to be in place to enable this
to operate safely and efficiently?
5. It is planned that a pharmacist will generally only be able
to be responsible for one pharmacy at any given time. However,
there
are provisions within the Health Act 2006 that may enable exceptions
to the one responsible pharmacist per pharmacy rule. What are your
thoughts on this? What safeguards would need to be in place?
6. Have you any other concerns or comments about being a responsible
pharmacist? (Please explain.) |
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