Responsible pharmacist proposals need exploration
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Pharmacy organisations are starting to consider the burdens that
responsible pharmacists may have to shoulder |
Proposals within the Government’s consultation
on the responsible pharmacist (PJ, 27 October, p457) will need to be explored to see what impact they might have and what safeguards should be put in place, said Sue
Sharpe, chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, at its community
pharmacy conference held in Birmingham this week.
“The proposals will not surprise anyone who has been following
developments but, since they have potential implications for how community
pharmacies
operate, particularly in the systems that secure safe and accurate dispensing
of medicines, we will need to explore the impact they might have, bad
and good, and what safeguards should be put in place in the future,” she
said.
She warned that the profession must ensure that it does not lose its
greatest asset. The public knows that they can walk into a pharmacy and
speak to a health care professional. That is the greatest asset we have
in our work to develop pharmacy-based services, and we must not carelessly
throw it away.”
The PSNC is recommending that every pharmacy contractor takes the time
to examine the consultation and to discuss it with their local pharmaceutical
committee.
Collette McCreedy, director of pharmacy practice at the National Pharmacy
Association, told The Journal: “This is part of a complex but important
consultation that has the potential to change substantially the way in
which pharmacy is practised.”
However, she added: “Responding is particularly challenging because
the concept of the responsible pharmacist is being considered in isolation
to future changes in the definition of supervision which will have much
more significance.”
Ms McCreedy said she was pleased that the Department of Health had addressed
some of the NPA’s concerns, particularly that the responsible pharmacist
should not be required to have any extra qualifications and that the
current role of the superintendent pharmacist must be maintained.
Chief executive of the Company Chemists’ Association Rob
Darracott commented: “We have enjoyed a constructive dialogue with the DoH
over the past year on this issue. While we have still to examine these
proposals in detail, we are confident that the DoH understands fully
the implications for practice in a multiple environment and is constructing
a legislative framework that will dovetail the relative roles of superintendent
and responsible pharmacist — our main focus in this debate.”
Jean Curtis, professional secretary of the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists,
said that the guild will be discussing the responsible pharmacist consultation
at its next meeting.
“It is important that the regulations accommodate the slightly
different systems that operate within registered hospital and community
pharmacy
premises,” she added.
“A consultation on proposals for the content of the responsible
pharmacist regulations” is available online
The consultation closes on 20 January 2008 and responses can be sent
to MailBoxSkillMix@dh.gsi.gov.uk or posted to The responsible pharmacist
consultation, Department of Health, 455D Skipton House, 80 London Road,
London SE1 6BY.
News feature p494
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