In 2012, both the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) and the RPS fought a vigorous campaign to ensure that a proposal to allow P medicines to be sold by self-selection from open display in community pharmacies should not be supported by the profession.
There are many reasons why the P medicines category and the fact that it is sold from a more controlled environment in the community pharmacy has been good for patients, pharmacists, and the healthcare system. The concern was that much of this will be threatened if P medicines are simply allowed to be sold through a self-selection process from the open shelves of a pharmacy alongside general sale list (GSL) medicines and even non-medicinal items.
PDA members have therefore raised concerns that the RPS has convened a meeting of all three country boards on Wednesday 19 of June 2024 to re-consider their position and to contemplate a change in policy to allow self-selection of P medicines in the future. In support of its consideration, the RPS meeting will receive a presentation from Boots.
The profession has not been consulted by the RPS about its thinking ahead of this meeting. When this issue arose back in 2012, pharmacists made clear to the PDA, in many surveys and a petition signed by many thousands, that they did not want such a change in their practice as it would make their patient safety role that much more difficult to deliver.
The PDA is astounded that in a discussion paper being used to support this debate, one of the arguments for change, as expressed by the RPS, is that it will provide a way for pharmacies to increase their over-the-counter sales, to maximise business, and help bridge the gap by the downfall in income in the sector. Later in the paper, it refers to patients as ‘customers’.
It should never be the role of a professional leadership body for pharmacists to reflect on ways to improve the commercial interests of business owners, this is a role for others. Its role should be about supporting the professional fulfilment of its pharmacist members, helping them to practice with competence and confidence and supporting the interests of patient safety in relation to their use of medicines.
The way that P medicines are managed in community pharmacy is one of the important cornerstones of pharmacy practice. During one of the many debates that took place back in 2012, one of the Chief Pharmacists famously said that “P medicines are the tools of a clinician, and they should not be made available on open display.”
The PDA calls on the RPS’ national board members to reject the proposal to change the P medicines policy as it could lead to a diminution in patient safety as well as a reduction in the ability of pharmacists to support patients by making professional decisions about how best to treat minor ailments. Should the RPS agree to such a change it will likely put it directly in conflict with the hopes, fears, and aspirations of practicing pharmacists.
If the RPS changes its current position which is that “pharmacy medicines must not be accessible to the public by self-selection” without first seeking and considering the views of practitioners, then this would raise significant questions about the legitimacy of such a decision.
Learn more
- P meds on self-selection. GPhC decision must be challenged
- Self-selection of P medicines – not in the public interest!
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