Primary Care Pharmacy March 2000 Vol 1 No 2 p34

Leading article

Time to reflect

Primary care groups (PCGs), local health care cooperatives (LHCCs) and local health groups (LHGs) are nearing completion of their first year in existence. Throughout this year, the number of opportunities for pharmacists to become involved in the multidisciplinary team has grown tremendously. With the emergence of primary care trusts in England, the demand is likely to grow further. Cash limited budgets and quality improvement rely on ensuring cost-effective treatments and the elimination of waste. During a year when increased costs associated with generic prescribing have been a major issue across the country, it could become all too easy for pharmacists working in the primary care environment to become totally focused on cost. However, at the same time, the number of evidence-based guidelines and the corporate approach to clinical governance allows pharmacists to bring skills to the health care team at practice level, and to develop services that allow patients to benefit from a more focused provision of quality pharmaceutical care. I know from personal experience how difficult it is to take the first steps to implement changes in primary care. How much easier it can be to adapt someone else's tried and tested protocols and experiences to meet your local needs. So why not reflect on your practice? Have you experiences that another pharmacist could learn from? Are you willing to share those experiences with your colleagues? If so, telephone or email Sheena Macgregor to discuss your ideas further.

Website

Primary Care Pharmacy can now be found on the web at www.pharmj.com/PrimaryCarePharmacy/Index.html. This site allows you to read the entire contents of each issue. Searches for specific articles can be carried out via the main PJOnline home page. This will become a useful facility as the number of issues of Primary Care Pharmacy increases.
Following the first issue, I received several constructive comments from readers. A request for an article on internet opportunities has led to "Making the most of the Net", which I hope will give the novices among us some useful pointers. Many of us who are working as practice pharmacists and prescribing advisers have limited access to good quality information sources. With the internet, we now have access to a whole library of medical and pharmaceutical information, provided we know where to look. The opportunity to communicate easily with our peers and so avoid the isolation that could so easily make our jobs even more difficult, is also available.