Tomorrow's Pharmacist (2004)
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Tomorrow's Pharmacist (2004) |
Home > Students > Tomorrow's Pharmacist > Pharmacy at the click of a mouse |
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Pharmacy at the click of a mouse |
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By Alan Nathan |
page 71-73 |
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The world of pharmacy is made up of many Government, NHS and pharmacy representative bodies, organisations and associations, and just about all of them can be reached online from your computer. Here is an alphabetical guide to many of them, with details of how to contact them if you want to know more. Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences An organisation dedicated to the advancement of the pharmaceutical sciences
in the UK. Its objectives are to stimulate the development of, and to
promote, the pharmaceutical sciences; to promote interaction between
the multidisciplinary subjects which constitute the pharmaceutical sciences;
and to express the views of pharmaceutical scientists nationally and
internationally. Membership is open to all pharmaceutical scientists,
both pharmacists and non-pharmacists, who work in academia, industry
and elsewhere. Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry The ABPI is the trade association for about 100 companies in the UK
that produce prescription medicines. Its member companies research, develop,
manufacture and supply more than 90 per cent of the medicines prescribed
through the NHS. The ABPI works with the UK government to ensure the
proper regulation of medicines, and negotiates with it control over the
pricing of proprietary prescription medicines exerted through the Pharmaceutical
Prices Regulation Scheme. The ABPI regulates the advertising of its members’ products
through the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority. It also
publishes the e-MC (electronic Medicines Compendium, emc.medicines.org.uk)
which comprises the summaries of product characteristics and patient
information leaflets of most prescription medicines marketed in the UK. British Pharmaceutical Students Association Full details of this national association for pharmacy students can
be found on p40 British Society for the History of Pharmacy The society acts as a focus for the development of all areas of the
history of pharmacy, from the works of the ancient apothecaries right
up to today and the ever changing role of the modern pharmacist. Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education The CPPE provides continuing education and continuing professional development
opportunities for all community pharmacists in England, and for hospital
and other pharmacists doing or intending to do locum work in community
pharmacies. It is funded directly by the Department of Health. The CPPE
runs over 660 face-to-face courses and workshops every year. There is
a comprehensive programme of distance learning and online web-based courses
are also becoming available. Each year the CPPE provides more than 38,000
continuing education programmes covering a comprehensive range of clinical
and professional topics. Certificates of successful completion are issued
and can be included in CPD portfolios. All courses are provided free
of charge and help towards travelling and locum expenses is given for
the face-to-face meetings. Preregistration trainees are provided with
four of the CPPE’s distance learning courses, and are expected
to complete them as part of their training. Scotland,
Wales and
Northern Ireland have
their own centres. College of Pharmacy Practice The CPP was founded in 1981 and is an independent organisation aims
to provide postregistration training and CPD for pharmacists from all
branches of the profession, and to promote the highest professional standards.
It achieves this through a programme of assessments, examinations and
practice portfolios, leading to full membership or fellowship of the
college. Members are actively encouraged to make a personal voluntary
commitment to CPD, and the college provides an annual programme of meetings
and courses, guides to developments in pharmacy practice and personal
support for members’ CPD through local self-help networks. The
college is not open to pharmacy undergraduates but has strong links with
the British Pharmaceutical Students Association and organises activities
for students in collaboration with it. Committee on Safety of Medicines The CSM is a statutory advisory committee set up under the Medicines
Act 1968, which advises the MHRA (see below) on the quality, efficacy
and safety of medicines in order to ensure that public health standards
are met and maintained. The CSM is consulted by the MHRA on licensing
applications for all new medicines, on relicensing and on re-classifications
(eg, POM to P). Once marketed, the CSM monitors the safety of medicines
in use, and the operation of the Yellow Card reporting scheme for suspected
adverse drug reactions is one of the committee’s functions. Company Chemists Association The CCA is the representative body of the large multiple community pharmacy
companies (Asda, Boots, Lloyds, Moss, Safeway, Sainsbury, Superdrug,
Tesco), responsible for the running of over 4,000 pharmacies. It is consulted
on pharmaceutical issues by the Government and professional bodies, and
is represented on the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (see
below), on local pharmaceutical committees and on several national pharmacy
professional committees. Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists This organisation was originally called the Guild of Hospital Pharmacists,
but a few years ago its membership was widened to include all registered
UK pharmacists and preregistration trainees working for health authorities,
health boards, hospital and primary care trusts. The GHP is a branch
of the Amicus trade union, and is involved in negotiating the pay and
conditions of its members. The GHP’s aims include improving the
economic and social well being of its members, enhancing their status
and promoting and protecting their interests. It also aims to promote
the contribution of hospital pharmacists to the development of pharmaceutical
services and pharmacy practice, to contribute to the development of pharmaceutical
education, and to contribute to discussions on health care issues. The
GHP has a number of special interest groups and about 20 local groups.
It covers the entire UK. Institute of Pharmacy Management International IPMI exists to promote and inspire education, research and excellence
in pharmacy management across all sectors of the profession. The organisation
encourages its members to develop their management skills as part of
their CPD, and fellowship of the institute can be achieved by submitting
a portfolio relating to advanced management practice. IPMI also provides
a modular distance learning course in pharmacy management, publishes
a quarterly journal for members and holds an annual conference. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency This Government agency was formed in April 2003 from the Medicines Control
Agency and Medical Devices Agency. Its purpose is to safeguard public
health by ensuring that medicines, health care products and medical equipment
meet appropriate standards of safety, quality, performance and effectiveness,
and are used safely. The merger came about because of the increasing
convergence of medicines and medical devices, and it was considered that
the new body would provide a seamless service. MHRA activities include
the licensing of medicines before marketing and subsequent variations
(eg, POM to P), regulating medical devices, regulation of clinical trials,
operating the adverse incident reporting system for medical devices,
assessment of defective medicines and communicating reports on them and
issuing safety warnings, monitoring medicines and acting on safety concerns
after they have been marketed, ensuring compliance to standards of pharmaceutical
manufacture and wholesaling, setting quality standards for drug substances
through the British Pharmacopoeia, and providing advice and guidance
on medicines and medical devices. The Medicines Partnership The Task Force on Medicines Partnership is a two-year initiative supported
by a £1.3m grant from the Department of Health, aimed at helping
patients to achieve maximum benefit from their medication. The Task Force
membership includes pharmacists, patients, doctors, nurses, and representatives
of the pharmaceutical industry and the NHS. It operates from the Society’s
headquarters in London. The mission of the Medicines Partnership programme
is to achieve greater health benefits for patients and improve patients’ satisfaction
with the delivery of health care. It hopes to reduce avoidable ill-health
and premature death, and reduce the number of hospital admissions and
wastage of medicines. It intends to do this by encouraging greater collaboration
and co-operation between health professionals, and by making patients
partners in decisions about their treatment and medication. It aims to
implement the principles of concordance into medical treatment and prescribing.
National Association of Women Pharmacists NAWP is an independent organisation that represents women in pharmacy,
although its membership is open to men as well. Its mission is to enable
all women pharmacists to realise their full potential and raise their
profile by being educationally, socially and politically active. NAWP
runs educational weekend conferences. National Institute for Clinical Excellence NICE is a special health authority set up in 1999 to promote clinical
excellence and the effective use of resources within the NHS in England
and Wales. It aims to provide patients, health professionals and the
public with authoritative, robust and reliable guidance about treatments
and care, and to help them to make decisions about health care. NICE
produces guidance in three areas of health: technology appraisals, clinical
guidelines and interventional procedures. NICE is part of the clinical
governance framework introduced by the Government in 1998. The Commission
for Health Assessment and Improvement (CHAI) monitors progress in implementing
NICE guidance and delivering high-quality health care by local NHS organisations.
National Patient Safety Agency The NPSA has been set up as a special health authority to improve the
safety in use of medicines and medical treatments. It operates on a “no
blame” principle that encourages health staff to report all errors
and “near misses” without fear of disciplinary or legal action
(except in cases of gross negligence or recklessness). Reports are anonymised
and then collated and communicated throughout the NHS so that others
will be aware of sources of potential error and will be able to avoid
them. National Pharmaceutical Association This organisation was founded in 1921 as a result of the “Jenkin
Judgement”, which ruled that the Pharmaceutical Society could not
provide insurance, business services or negotiate pay and conditions
of employment on behalf of its members. The Retail Pharmacists’ Union,
as the NPA was originally called, was set up to provide these. Today
the organisation provides a range of services and representation for
its members, who must be owners of community pharmacies. Membership extends
to nearly every independent community pharmacist proprietor and small
multiple company, and all the large multiple pharmacy and superstore
pharmacy companies with the exception of Boots. National Prescribing Centre The NPC was set up in 1996 by the Department of Health with the aim
of providing evidence-based advice to prescribers and other NHS health
professionals to promote high quality, cost-effective prescribing and
medicines management. It is perhaps best known for its MeReC (Medicines
Research Centre) bulletins and briefings sent out regularly to community
pharmacists and GPs, providing information and advice on prescribing
in various therapeutic areas. The NPC also provides information and advice
on medicines and their use in other ways and to different audiences,
delivers a co-ordinated programme of education and training events, disseminates
good prescribing practice and helps in the development of IT systems
for prescribing. In addition, it keeps NHS organisations and staff up
to date with developments in NHS research and development and health
technology assessment initiatives. It has also recently provided guidance
to pharmacists and nurses training to be supplementary prescribers. Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee The PSNC is the body that negotiates on behalf of pharmacy contractors
in England and Wales with the Department of Health on remuneration and
terms of service for NHS pharmaceutical services. The committee has 25
members: 15 are elected by contractors on a regional basis, five are
appointed from the Board of the National Pharmaceutical Association,
four are appointed from the Company Chemists Association and there is
one representative from the Co-operative Pharmacy Technical Panel (the
organisation that represents Co-op pharmacies). Local Pharmaceutical
Committees (LPCs) fund the PSNC, represent pharmacies locally and negotiate
and discuss pharmacy services with local health bodies such as primary
care trusts. The PSNC also operates the National Prescription Research
Centre, where a percentage of all prescriptions sent to NHS prescription
pricing bureaux are checked to ensure that pharmacy contractors are being
correctly paid for what they dispense. Proprietary Association of Great Britain This is the national trade association that represents manufacturers
of branded OTC medicines and health supplements. Its mission is to promote
responsible consumer health care, and its functions include regulating
advertising standards within the industry, liaising with government and
lobbying on legislation affecting the industry, and communicating with
consumers, in connection with which it provides several consumer services.
The Consumer Health Information Centre (CHIC www.chic.org.uk) is an
educational service encouraging self-medication for minor ailments. The
PAGB also runs the Health Supplements Information Service (HSIS, www.hsis.org),
which aims to dispel some of the myths about health supplementation and
encourage sensible use of supplements. A new initiative is Advancing
Self Care (ASC), which aims to encourage consumers to take responsibility
for their health by promoting informed, expert advice on self-medication
and treatment. Primary Care Pharmacists’ Association The PCPA is open to any pharmacist whose work involves, or who is interested
in, primary care prescribing support. Preregistration trainees can also
join. The association aims to promote and assist pharmacists as primary
care professionals responsible for providing prescribing support and
medicines management. Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain Founded in 1841, the Society is the national professional body for the
45,000 pharmacists registered in Great Britain (see p69) United Kingdom Clinical Pharmacy Association This organisation was established in 1981 to support and encourage clinical
pharmacy. Its membership includes pharmacists from all branches of the
profession. The UKCPA organises two symposia each year at which research
papers and posters are presented. Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London The “original pharmaceutical society”, this organisation
was founded as a craft guild of the City of London in 1617, when the
apothecaries (medieval medicines compounders and sellers) broke away
from the Grocers’ Company to which they had previously belonged.
The majority of apothecaries evolved into medical practitioners and were
the forerunners of the modern general practitioner, but a proportion
of them stuck to their original occupation and eventually founded the
Pharmaceutical Society. Today, the Society has a mainly social function
although it runs a number of postgraduate medical diploma courses. About
95 per cent of the membership are medical practitioners, with about 5
per cent pharmacists and a few dentists. Young Pharmacists Group The YPG is an organisation dedicated to promoting fresh ideas in pharmacy.
In spite of its name it is open to pharmacists of all ages. Many of its
members have progressed from membership of the BPSA to the YPG on qualifying.
It is radical and progressive in outlook and in its 17 years of existence
has become an effective and influential lobbying body within the profession.
The YPG has an annual conference, regional conferences, a “hustings” meeting
at which candidates in the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Council
election can outline their policies and several social events including
an annual skiing holiday. |
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