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One step forward, two steps back?

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One step forward, two steps back?

Mike Smith puts the world to rights…

Last month in my column, I said that it feels like a golden age for pharmacy. I’ll admit that column was more upbeat than usual, but then news comes in from left field to shatter my optimism.

It is bitterly disappointing that a pharmacy business, run by fully qualified pharmacists would think it’s appropriate to sell patient records to a third party. We have been negotiating for many months to have access to patient records and we are on the brink of achieving success. Their actions may prove to be the undoing of all of our good work – what timing!

We must make the position of the profession clear, with no skirting around the issue. There has already been concern voiced in the national press over such access. I have said many times in this column that, as we achieve more recognition for the services we can provide, we must step up to the plate and deliver. We must also be above any accusation of unprofessional conduct.

It is time that some of us took another look at the Code of Ethics we are all bound by, and never lose sight of it, despite the fact that we operate in a commercial environment. I actually find the whole business difficult to comprehend as a fellow professional. I just hope that Alistair Burt MP (minister of state for community and social care) stating that this was “an aberration” satisfies the doubters.

But then Mr Burt disappointed me by filibustering the vote which would have allowed the licensing of off-patent drugs for additional indications. All pharmacists, indeed all healthcare professionals, would support a bill that increased patients’ access to “the right treatment at the right time”. I am at a loss to understand the motive of the minister.

It has emerged that failure rates at pre-registration examinations may be due to inadequate training by tutors in community pharmacies. Some trainees claim that they are treated as dispensers and counter assistants with little time for one-to-one work with their tutor pharmacists. This is unacceptable and must change.

I urge such tutors to look at the role and further education of their trainees. Last month, I raised the issue of the alignment of examination expectation and syllabus – and this is clearly another factor. Then I learned that Dr Keith Ridge CBE, the chief pharmaceutical officer for NHS England, has suggested that students may have to pay for the year’s pre-registration training if they cannot find places from the proposed centralised recruitment process.

The only solution is a five-year course, with embedded pre-registration places. This cannot come soon enough. Likewise, the decision not to cap pharmacy student places was wrong.

There is an oversupply and this will inevitably force salaries down. Notwithstanding this, we must do all that we can to ensure these talented people are not denied the right to register after four years’ hard work.

I also have concerns over the drive championed by the RPS to move pharmacists into GP surgeries and align their remuneration in some way. This completely undermines the fragile structure of remuneration in place at this time. And I continue to despair at the divisions between our professional bodies.

Last month I mentioned how impressed I am with the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). Since joining, I have received updates every couple of days on drug developments and lobbying activity. Our representative bodies could learn much from this instead of sending mixed messages to our paymasters.

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2016 – please take time to enjoy it with your loved ones.

Mike Smith is chairman of Alliance Healthcare, mike.h.smith@alliance-healthcare.co.uk

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