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A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Welcome to Edition #36.
In this edition some of the writers are reflecting some feelings expressed by community pharmacists, regarding their abilities to mobilise to meet the challenge of some of the new services on offer. Other writers are looking at political structures, and reflecting views on whether there should be an amalgamation of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, as hinted at by Federal Guild President, John Bronger.
The views expressed are thoughtful and may present an alternative.
It would seem that with all the activity that has been non-stop since the Wilkinson Review, and the Guild/Government Third Agreement, that preparation for real changes in pharmacy structure are being considered by a significant membership of the profession.
As always, Computachem Newsletter endeavours to position itself ahead of change, and to promote possible solutions.
Change is always uncomfortable, and there is a tendency to keep your head down during such periods. Pharmacists have been criticised for all manner of circumstances, from all quarters, and sometimes having to forward plan in such an environment can be extremely painful.
However, plan you must.
Despite the fact that pharmacy has slipped down the rankings in the annual survey on professional traits and standing, there is a very real opportunity that can be grasped for exceptional improvement, in our professional services delivery and general image with consumers.
It is our image with consumers that matters most, and we need to continually dialogue with them, and explain what we are doing, and why.
In this, we are deficient, and must develop structures to deliver appropriate messages and service support, with help from our political organisations.

Rollo Manning leads off this month by asking the rhetorical question of whether there should or should not be an amalgamation of the two major pharmacy political bodies. Judge for yourself and form your own opinion, just in case you might have to vote on such an event down the track.

Ken Stafford comments on statements made by some of our counterparts in the U.K. He looks at the pluses and the minuses of service delivery in Australia and challenges the "doom and gloom" of some of his co-writers and commentators.
As always, Ken has the ability to simplify everyday issues.

A Division of Pharmacy Practice?
What an intriguing thought.
This particular article explores some of the reasons why pharmacy is sometimes forgotten in health planning, and argues that given the success of the GP Divisions of General Practice, Pharmacy could develop its own model.
A "bottoms up" approach to pharmacy political amalgamation rather than a "top down" version.

Heather Pym describes what it was like on "rollout day" in GP Land for the Domiciliary Medication Management Review Service (DMMR) and advises that there may be a bit of a lag before activity speeds up.
This may be a welcome respite for all concerned, because some pharmacists are still feeling a bit nervous about what is required and how well they will perform.

The newsletter of Health Communication Network (HCW Edition 22) discusses the prescribing of Salbutamol and the top 20 prescriptions written over the last month. We are publishing this material for use by consultant pharmacists and to demonstrate the quality of information regularly received by GPs, right to their desktop.

Jon Aldous asks "Did we figure out what slogan to use for the pharmacy profession?".
Jon again highlights the lack of dialogue with our patient consumers and sees us slipping down the professional service delivery stakes as a result. He highlights an actual conversation with a consumer friend, and using his example, you ought to be able to figure out why you may be losing ground to competitors like mail order pharmacies. Read to gain full insight.

Stephen Rogers illustrates what a frustrating system the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) can be when applied to Aged Care establishments, and how in this Internet age, a paperless transaction could easily be developed to speed things up. This has to be a definite area for the Guild to look at with its IT budget and the Better Medication Management System (BMMS) looming.

Roy Stevenson is back to tell us about his experiences at a DMMR workshop and how he personally feels about the future of the service model proposed. Roy deals with his subject humorously and with honesty and is finding that a surprising number of colleagues are reading his material in full agreement.
He has asked them to post forum comments, but it appears that they are just a bit shy at the moment.
We are considering accommodating them with an anonymous forum for next year.

Pat Gallagher discusses the danger of relying on electronic data transactions without proper checks. He postulates a "death by data" situation and reminds us how careful we need to be to avoid costly medical misadventures.

Peter Sayers is back with his thoughts on developing a private practice in consultant pharmacy. While Peter is definitely not against the model currently being developed as a government subsidised one, he sees difficulties and angst in being totally bound to a monopsony in the same way as the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. He advises that practices should be rounded out to include some private endeavours, using government cash flow to kick things off.
His article series should be bookmarked for future reference.

Roundup, our rural and remote writer has sent a small par relating to a diabetes seminar in which no drugs were discussed, and no pharmacists were there as presenters.
He laments that pharmacy has again been left out in the cold, and why the Better Medication Management System (BMMS) needs to eliminate this type of situation.

Neil Johnston
October 15th, 2001

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