The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7494 p333
22 March 2008

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• Darzi review
• The profession
• Tuberculosis
• Euthanasia
• Benevolent Fund
• Audit
• Minor ailment scheme
• Community pharmacy
• The Society
• Pharmacy in the media

Letters to the Editor

Audit

Pitfalls

From Dr B. Hynam, MRPharmS

I agree with Brian Hebron (PJ, 1 March 2008, p250). The increasing pressure to perform audits in secondary care is beginning to detract from our core function. Although it is reasonable to assess one’s performance I believe there are ethical considerations if the audit is meaningless or if the audit tool is unvalidated.

It may seem heretical to question the advice of such august bodies as the National Patient Safety Agency but, occasionally, I have dared to think that it is so easy for those with little service commitments to dictate what should be done with little attention to the resources required.

Albert Einstein understood: “Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything than can be counted counts.” I had better get back to seeing how many beans we have got and start ticking a few more boxes.

Brian Hynam
Director of Pharmacy
Staffordshire General Hospital

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