The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7475 p457
27 October 2007

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Consultation on responsible pharmacist launched

A formal consultation on regulations relating to the “responsible pharmacist” — the concept that will replace “personal control” — was launched by the Department of Health as The Journal went to press.

The Health Act 2006 amended the Medicines Act 1968 and related NHS legislation in a number of ways, introducing the requirement that each pharmacy must have a responsible pharmacist and providing for changes in the pharmacist supervision requirements.These changes aim to clarify some anomalies, allow pharmacists to take on more clinical roles and make better use of pharmacy staff skills.

The Act allows ministers to set out in regulations details of how the responsible pharmacist will exercise his or her statutory duty. This is what the DoH is now consulting on. Consultations on the pharmacist supervision regulations will follow later.

The consultation document comprises nine chapters, in which views are sought on several issues. These include pharmacy procedures, record keeping, absence of the responsible pharmacist, the qualifications and experience needed for the role, and circumstances in which a pharmacist can be responsible for more than one pharmacy.

Other matters, such as enforcement of the regulations, the time needed to prepare for their introduction and the need for guidance to support this are also included.

Priya Sejpal, acting head of professional ethics at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: “The changes to the Medicines Act will rectify some of the anomalies that currently exist. For example, currently, general sale list medicines can only be sold when the pharmacist is present, even though pharmacist presence is not necessary for other retail outlets.

“The Society is preparing a detailed response to the responsible pharmacist consultation and encourages the profession to respond and help to shape the way in which pharmacists will practise in the future.”

Further coverage of the consultation, which ends on 20 January 2008, will begin in next week’s Journal.