Major UK changes
October 5, 2010
Last week saw the official
opening of the new regulator for
the pharmacy professions in
Britain – the General
Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
While there are no doubts that
this body will bring numerous
benefits to the British pharmacy
system, it also foreshadows a few
troubling changes.
With the GPhC taking over the
regulation and accreditation of
over 70,000 pharmacists,
pharmacy technicians and
pharmacy premises from the Royal
Pharmaceutical Society of Great
Britain (RPSGB), pharmacy’s role in
guiding its own destiny in Britain
has been undoubtedly diminished.
The Guild believes the move to
register pharmacy assistants in
Britain will ultimately lead to long
periods of unsupervised pharmacy
technician work, which will likely
be the beginning of the end of
pharmacists being required in a
pharmacy at all times – a move
that has already been flagged in
discussion papers. Should this
occur, corporate pharmacy owners
will be quick to capitalise, and
employment conditions for
pharmacists will be significantly
affected.
While it may be difficult for some
people to see, the Guild continues
to act to protect the entire
community pharmacy profession.
Our vigorous defence of the
current system of pharmacy in
Australia benefits each and every
pharmacist and is helping to
ensure that the future of the
profession is a bright one.
While the Guild proudly
represents community pharmacy
owners, our vigilance helps ensure
that current employee and student
pharmacists skills are maintained
in linking with the patient on each
prescription dispensing to
maximise quality use of medicines.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 05 Oct 10To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 05 Oct 10
