News

Pharmacists bid to take on asthma and diabetes care

19-Mar-08

Pharmacists should be allowed to manage long-term conditions such as asthma and diabetes, according to the chairman of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC).

In a speech at the annual PSNC conference in London last week, Dr Chris Hodges, chairman of the PSNC, called for more advanced pharmacy services to be put in place that were nationally agreed and specified with national funding.

Under the proposals, pharmacists would be able to manage asthma and diabetes as well as minor ailments, weight management and a range of screening and diagnostic services.

The proposals coincide with a push to expand the range of services offered in pharmacies in England.

Last week, the DoH announced that its cardiovascular disease (CVD) screening programme could be provided by pharmacists as well as GPs.

Responding to Dr Hodges speech, health minister Dawn Primarolo said that pharmacy will have a much bigger role to play in primary care in the next 10 years and will be clearly acknowledged for doing so.

sanjay.tanday@haymarket.com

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Comments

C W Spencer

19/03/2008

It will be interesting to see how much pharmacists expect to be paid for these duties.

Graham Brown

19/03/2008

This is another example of the march towards fragmentation of the health system and in a similar vein to polyclinics and Darzi centres. If this is really what patients want then so be it, but once the initial excitement of being able to get an appointment on a Saturday morning has waned the true value of the loss of holistic care will start to tell. But will it then be too late?

C W Spencer

19/03/2008

Replace GPs with nurses and pharmacists and sell single handed practices to corporates. Wither the GP in a year or two?

Mohammed Ahmed

19/03/2008

I believe the price will be well below what GP's are demanding.

I am amazed with a system where GP's are paid for BMI (as in the QoF) and then PCT gives then incentive of 50p per patient to measure weight and height!!!!WoW. Also Another PCT has made LES for COPD monitoring when COPD is already in QoF.

This may be march towards fragmentation but then it will atleast give patient a choice instead of monoply of general practice.

C W Spencer

19/03/2008

There is no doubt that a lot of GP's were quite amazed albiet pleasantly at the terms of the present contract but the government has already started to nibble away at the alleged £100k and surely will continue to do so. Clearly pharmacists are making clear that they are at present under-employed for the salary they are getting in addition to that obtained by their shopkeeper role ( a nice little earner which GP's are denied by law). I don't blame them at all, as checking packed, labeled medicines to see if their assistants can read properly is demeaning. They deserve to improve themselves and find better roles that this and finding the recent most profitable generic. I see quite an selling opportunity to be developing with the increased patient contact proposed. Dispensing doctors have always been opposed by pharmacists with the arguments which could well apply to the monitor-prescribe-dispense role which the pharmacists are avidly seeking despite the ethical conflict . In any event the individual pharmacists who still exist are at threat by the large conglomerates as are GP's . As with dentists no doubt the honorary term "doctor" will be applied and patients will not know the true nature of the professional they will be "consulting." Medicine is now my hobby and I thoroughly enjoy it in this role. I am not sure that I would like it or pharmacy as a full time job these days as continual dumbing down will inevitably take place by edict- for the general public who may be wise enough to see that it all the choices are not all that equal after all.

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