The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7476 p486
3 November 2007

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Burden or liberation?

Another week in pharmacy and another consultation is launched — presenting the profession with a second major development in just 10 days. Last week the Department of Health set out its proposals on the “responsible pharmacist”.

In brief, the ideas underpinning the responsible pharmacist will supersede the concept of personal control, iron out legal anomalies in the Medicines Act 1968 and other legislation that prevails in the different home countries of the UK, and pave the way for the more controversial decisions that will be made in a year or so’s time over supervision.

Of course, it is not a simple as that. Even without the looming issue of supervision, implementing the responsible pharmacist concept will have far-reaching implications for all practising pharmacists, in particular community pharmacists. In the short run it will be burdensome but, in the much longer run, it could be liberating for many, since greater autonomy should come with increased responsibility.

The Journal is going to look at different aspects of the consultation document (one of the chunkiest ever at over 100 pages), starting with an introduction this week (p494) and completing the series by the beginning of December. Notwithstanding the hiatus of the Christmas and New Year period this will give pharmacists about six weeks to respond to the consultation. It ends on 20 January 2008.

Pharmacists must not underestimate the significance of the responsible pharmacist consultation. It is destined to change the way pharmacy is practised. It is likely to lead to even more tiers of pharmacy than at present and may well end with some pharmacists being more equal than others as this week’s Broad spectrum spells out (p496).

Meanwhile, the Clarke Inquiry — the independent inquiry commissioned by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to look into the future of a professional body for pharmacy — has set out its stall this week (p493).

Although its deliberations will not affect pharmacy practice directly in the way that the emergence of the responsible pharmacist will, there is no doubt that the input of individual practitioners, as well as evidence from official bodies, will help shape the sort of professional body that emerges in the next couple of years.

This is one chance in a professional lifetime to put forward ideas of what services pharmacists (and other professionals allied to pharmacy) believe a professional body should provide and what support pharmacists currently believe they are lacking.

The Clarke Inquiry team members are touring Britain over the next three months (PDF 40K), offering individual pharmacists the opportunity to meet them and put forward their case.

Although this inquiry was commissioned by the Society it is truly independent and pharmacists and others with an interest in a new professional body should not miss the opportunity to make their views known.

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