News: Non Pharmacist managers may harm patients and must be regulated

The good news is that the Patients Association is singing from the same hymn sheet and has asked for much the same approach to be taken in the Health Service generally.

The comments from the Patients Association came after a report published by Bournemouth University in June highlighted concerns being expressed by surgeons. When they were asked about what gets in the way of patient safety, many said they did not feel in full clinical control, because of pressure from managers to reach targets.

One of the respondents warns against bowing to these pressures: "Don't be seduced by management into making do, thinking you are being heroic; you're not, you are just being dangerous."

The author of the report observed;

"If anything goes wrong they [the healthcare professionals] are held responsible but they are not in charge. The key is the influence - and often the malign influence - of managers who are concerned with meeting targets."

The healthcare professionals questioned could so easily have been pharmacists commenting on the way they are pressurised into performing MURs or the way they as responsible pharmacists are required to inherit the liabilities when they are not given the authority or control.

In a statement the health secretary for England, Andrew Lansley, said the report highlighted a point he had made repeatedly;

"Patient safety must come first, that means allowing clinicians to focus on the patient's treatment, rather than the diktats of managers. That's why we will abolish top-down process targets and replace them with outcome measures, which drive improvements in the quality of patient
care."

The PDA will press the regulator to ensure that non-pharmacist managers are held accountable in situations where their conduct may cause harm to patients. Furthermore, the PDA continues to defend members against the imposition of inappropriate top down targets - such as those set for MURs.

Full details of the PDA submission are available at http://www.the-pda.org/gphcstandards