Hospital Pharmacist
Vol 10 No 10 p427
November 2003

News summary

“One size fits all” prescribing courses may not suit everyone

Having a “one size fits all” approach to deliver some elements of the supplementary prescribing courses may not always be suitable, according to Duncan McRobbie, principal clinical pharmacist, Guys and St Thomas' NHS Trust. Mr McRobbie made his comment when delivering a presentation at the Hospital Pharmacist conference on pharmacist prescribing held in London on 30 October. He stressed that, before preparing his speech, he had canvassed opinion from other pharmacists taking part with him on the course at Kings College, London, and so his comments reflected a widely-held view.

In the main, participants were finding the course valuable, but were concerned that pharmacists and nurses were attending the same study sessions on, for example, drug absorption and excretion. Pharmacists time could be better spent focusing on the monitoring techniques that nurses were familiar with, but pharmacists less so, according to Mr McRobbie.

A full report of the conference will appear in next month’s Hospital Pharmacist.