Half of new PECs have kept pharmacists as members
Just over half of new professional executive committees (PECs) in England currently include pharmacists, according to a survey recently conducted by the Pharmaceutical Service Negotiating Committee.
The PSNC had been concerned that community pharmacists might be dropped
from these primary care trust committees following the introduction of
smaller, less representational
PECs (PJ, 7 April 2007, p387),
the selection process for which is due to be completed by 1 October 2007.
For this reason the PSNC decided to survey local pharmaceutical committees
to identify those permanent and interim PECs that included pharmacist
members.
The survey showed that, of 152 PCTs, 79 PECs have community pharmacist
members, 41 do not have a pharmacist on their PEC and 32 are in the process
of selecting members. This compares with two-thirds of PECs with pharmacist
members before the committees were reviewed following primary care trust
reconfiguration.
Barbara Parsons, head of pharmacy practice at the PSNC, said: “With
a 98 per cent response rate, the survey is comprehensive, and we are
pleased with the number of community pharmacists on PECs, especially
against the backdrop of reduced PCT numbers and PEC places.”
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