HP Conference 2002

Manpower is pharmacy’s biggest challenge

This year, the eve of conference dinner had a Caribbean theme. The venue was the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's rooftop dining room, which was transformed into a tropical island. The address was given by the President of the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists, Robert McArtney

Manpower continues to be the biggest challenge pharmacists face, according to Robert McArtney, President of the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists and clinical pharmacy specialist for Wales.

Addressing the dinner, Mr McArtney said that, in his capacity as President of the guild, he has recently raised the current recruitment and retention problems with the Department of Health. The guild has also made the case that investment in information technology is essential to free pharmacy staff for patient-focused services. However, the guild has warned: "On no account must investment in IT be at the sacrifice of existing posts."

He said that most pharmacy departments are "chronically under-resourced" and staff need the investment in IT to start to deliver the vision set out in the Audit Commission's "A spoonful of sugar".

Mr McArtney told the conference that the guild welcomes the DoH consultation document on the "Pharmacy workforce in the new NHS" and also the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's move to set up a workforce planning group.

Moving on to consider the career structure of hospital pharmacists, Mr McArtney said that there had been a recent increase in the number of consultant pharmacist posts. Mr McArtney said that he is "not a great fan" of the title of consultant. However, he acknowledged the need for posts that recognise the high level of expertise held by many pharmacists. He suggested that consultant posts should be offered at E grade, or above, in recognition of the training required to undertake these specialist positions.

Loss of experienced staff

Mr McArtney then spoke about the "drain of experienced and innovative pharmacists from the service". He said that the loss of experienced people from hospital pharmacy is a cause for concern because the positions they are leaving behind, such as chief pharmacist posts, are, in some cases, being undervalued by the associated trusts. Mr McArtney pointed out that unrealistically low salaries are being offered for highly demanding posts, and this highlights a crucial role for all pharmacy organisations to identify and create true leaders in the profession. He said: "We must all strive to ensure that these leaders are properly recognised within their organisations for the skills, knowledge and ability they bring to the health care agenda as a whole."

The final comments raised by Mr McArtney related to the guild's aim of closer working with other pharmaceutical and health care organisations.

He said: "We see a commonality of purpose with other organisations and seek to work with them." He added that the potential benefits of strategic alliances are obvious. "Where others do things better than us, there is no point in duplication or competition — and we expect reciprocation. The National Health Service is all about partnership. We see partnership as the path to achieving our goal — making the vision of pharmacy services outlined in "A spoonful of sugar", become a reality for every patient," said Mr McArtney.