NEWS NEWS IN BRIEF


PUBLIC TRUST IN PHARMACY AT A HIGH


According to a GPhC report on the public perceptions of pharmacy in Scotland, England and Wales, the vast majority of people trust health advice from a pharmacist.


The report is based on a survey of members of the general public in Great Britain carried out by Ipsos MORI last autumn.


Although a family doctor or GP was the most common response from respondents in terms of where to seek any health information, the survey demonstrates that pharmacists are seen as a key source of information for advice on medicines and for information about stopping smoking.


The use of pharmacy in Scotland is relatively high with almost four in five respondents saying they had visited a pharmacy at least once in the last 12 months and with medicinal transactions listed as the most common reason for a visit. When thinking about their last experience of a pharmacy, most respondents agreed that staff were seen to be knowledgeable and able to provide the required information and advice. However, there are some differences in how the general public perceive their pharmacy experience across the different countries.


Commenting on the report, Duncan Rudkin, Chief Executive of the GPhC said, “This report provides us with a useful insight into how pharmacy is perceived by patients and the general public. The role of pharmacy and the knowledge and skills required of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have changed in the last few decades. It continues to evolve and regulation needs to keep pace with those changes. This report will therefore support our ongoing work around refocusing a number of our functions, and in particular the development of our regulatory and pharmacy standards, our prototype inspections model and our guidance.”


4 - SCOTTISH PHARMACIST


Prescription for the future – radical change A clear need to raise awareness of the role of pharmacists and the future direction of travel for their role.


“The framework, developed to complement the Scottish Government’s 2020 vision and the ambitions of the healthcare quality strategy, has widely been heralded as the most radical Government pharmacy policy document for a generation.”


Alex McKinnon, RPS Scotland


This was the key message to come out of a joint viewpoint published by The Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland and the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) on Prescription for Excellence (PfE).


RPS in Scotland has, over the past few months, forged a closer working relationship with the ALLIANCE and they recently sought members views on the PfE vision and action plan with the survey results demonstrating an urgency in highlighting the work carried out by community pharmacists.


The joint viewpoint, entitled “A Prescription for Success” considers the role of the Scottish Government’s Prescription for Excellence vision and action plan and the potential it has to change the role of pharmacy for the benefit of patients.


“Prescription for Excellence (PfE), the Scottish Government’s vision for the future of pharmacy, offers us some fresh motivation to think innovatively about how we deliver healthcare in challenging times, with people living longer and complexity of care increasing,” says Alex Mackinnon, Director for Scotland with the RPS.


Scottish first for Margaret


Margaret Watson, Clinical pharmacist and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, has been selected to join the Health Foundation’s Improvement Science Fellowship scheme.


Margaret is the first pharmacist and first researcher in Scotland to have been awarded the Fellowship.


“Many pharmacists across Scotland have built longstanding positive relationships with the people they serve, but the framework recognises that greater efforts are now required to encourage continuity of care, particularly in relation to supporting management of long term conditions,” he adds.


“The vision is not without its challenges, and there is much work to be done by everyone, over the next few years, to bring the ambitions of the document to fruition.


“IT IS CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT THAT THE PUBLIC ARE AWARE OF PHARMACISTS’ EXPERTISE AND SCOPE OF PRACTICE IF THEY ARE TO ENGAGE WITH THE IDEAS BEING EXPLORED”


The survey carried out with members also highlighted a strong desire for disabled people, people living with long term conditions, unpaid carers, and representatives of third sector organisations to have opportunities


Fellows spend up to three years developing original, applied research dedicated to improving health care in the UK. They also participate in a tailored leadership development programme. The project Margaret will be working on during the fellowship is around patient and public involvement in the development of quality standards, indicators and measures for community pharmacy practice.


Margaret has published widely


to inform the PfE programme’s development and provide real-time feedback on its implementation.


Building on this activity, the ALLIANCE have agreed a programme of work with the Scottish Government to address the issues raised. To ensure that future pharmaceutical care provision is built around people who access support and services, a consultation forum of targeted ALLIANCE members will explore proposals contained within the vision and action plan in the context of lived experience. This forum will provide people living with long term conditions, and unpaid carers, a strong voice on the road to new models of pharmaceutical care by feeding in to the Scottish Government’s Prescription for Excellence programme.


The joint viewpoint goes on to add that the ALLIANCE will also contribute to the awareness-raising agenda through the publication of an accessible and user-friendly outline of the case for change put forward by the Scottish Government, to make sure that people have a clearer idea of how pharmacists can contribute to their health and wellbeing. The publication will highlight current exemplary pharmacy practice to build on, and opportunities for future developments.


“Our prescription for the future is one of radical change – these developments offer us an important juncture on the route to that,” adds Ian Welsh, Chief Executive of the ALLIANCE.


during her career including the recent influential ‘MINA’ study Community Pharmacy Management of Minor Illness.


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