Published by Computachem Services

P.O Box 297.
Alstonville. 2477
NSW Australia

Phone:
61 2 66285138

I would like to wish all our readers a very productive and happy 2003.
Doesn't time pass so quickly when you're having fun?
February is nearly on us and Neil is again yelling for my copy for next newsletter.
The start of a new year is possibly time for a little contemplation of what is going on in the world of pharmacy.
In Australia, pharmacists once again appear near the top of the Morgan poll of most trusted professions, (second only to nurses).
In the UK, the Pharmacy Journal wonders what the profession can do to regain the respect of the public and, in the USA, there just aren't enough pharmacists to meet demand.
It appears that the more we want to change the more things stay the same!

Not quite the same, however.
My son has been registered since my last offering so my family now consists of one ex-nurse and three (yes, three) pharmacists.
According to results in the Morgan poll mine must be one of the most trusted families in the country!

On a more serious note, I've been delighted to see the response from community pharmacists in respect of accreditation as consultants.
Only yesterday, while out visiting as part of my DVA-pharmacy liaison programme, I was talking to two pharmacists about medication reviews and their plans to become accredited as consultant pharmacists.
This was two out of just six pharmacies visited so the drive to become accredited seems to be getting stronger.
I live in hope that our profession will soon throw off its shopkeeper tag and finally be recognised as an integral part of the community's health care team.
There is still a way to go as pharmacy takes its first staggering steps away from being seen as a merely a supplier of prepacked medicines.
A major stumbling block, according to one proprietor, is the time required to both attain consultant pharmacist status then to carry out home medication reviews once accredited.
Workloads and disruptions continue to raise stress levels amongst pharmacists.
How can you be expected to work a twelve hour day dispensing 4-500 scripts, counsel where necessary, provide advice over the counter and then carry out effective medication reviews?
As a group, pharmacists might be wonderful but they're not miracle workers.

How to find the hours needed to implement a medication review program is, I feel, going to become one of the major issues in 2003.
It is interesting to see some of the solutions to this problem being floated in the literature.
Gerry Green in the January 18th issue of the Pharmaceutical Journal advocates streamlining dispensary processes to improve work flow as a means to freeing up pharmacists' time.
Three hospitals in the UK are to trial automated dispensing similar to some USA businesses.
The rationale for this trial is to free up clinical pharmacists so they can spend more time in the wards.
If Australian pharmacy wants to increase its clinical role this may be the way it has to go.
The proposal for on-line prescribing and transmission of scripts would lend itself nicely to automated dispensing and may facilitate such a move.

It is becoming recognised that increasing pharmacists' input into patient care not only reduces medication errors but also improves outcomes and controls costs.
Nester and Hale (Am J Health-Syst Pharm 59(22):2221-2225, 2002. © 2002 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists) report on the benefits of pharmacists taking medication histories of patients being admitted to hospital.
There was a demonstrated improvement in patient safety in addition to increased efficiency in the admission process.
It certainly does our profession no harm to have the results of studies such as this published, indicating that pharmacists should be encouraged to have greater participation in the total health care of patients.

Why, in Australia, do we not have more pharmacists working in large medical practices as consultants to review and advise on medication issues?
The UK has primary care pharmacists in this role, most divisions of general practice in Australia have pharmacist consultants to assist in many of their programmes but this rarely extends to the coalface where most drug use in initiated.
"Resources", I hear you say "We just have neither enough time nor sufficient pharmacists to become so involved".
I do not necessarily agree with these excuses but given the lack of time available to my readers I will leave the rest of my "tirade" until the next issue.