One voice, one Society
It is time that we the pharmacy profession give a wake-up call to the nation. I am concerned about recent hub-and-spoke pharmacy developments not having been discussed fully at the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, of which I was a member. There is potential of the pharmacist to be put in the situation of losing control of dispensing.
We already sift through the prescriptions from the GPs for any mistakes and ask for alterations. With every prescription there is potential danger of harming or even killing a patient.
Our profession is being eroded to the point of a health promotion machine because a number of effective over-the-counter medicines have been withdrawn.
In addition, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society is pushing for a Faculty instead of full prescribing rights like in Canada. We are experts in medicines and should aim for full control of prescribing.
We should steer ourselves away from ancillary duties using bits of NHS monies left over here and there resulting in different services being offered (eg, vaccinations) in different parts of England.
We must have a unified strong RPS that reflects the core of pharmacy.
One voice, one Society.
Elisabeth Hopkins
MRPharmS
English Pharmacy Board Election Candidate
Royal Pharmaceutical Society
Citation: The Pharmaceutical Journal DOI: 10.1211/PJ.2014.11138531
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