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Profession must re-take the initiative on updating supervision rules

PDA press release regarding remote supervision

Mon 12th April 2010 The PDA

At the recent PDA annual Conference held in Birmingham on February 28th, a debate about reviewing pharmacy supervision was held. As a backcloth to this debate, delegates heard how it has now become very clear that many pharmacists vigorously reject the notion of remote supervision and that this was recently demonstrated in the RPSGB elections when the membership overwhelmingly supported candidates who pledged to stop remote supervision.

Mark Koziol PDA Chairman told delegates;

“Remote supervision introduces unnecessary and unwarranted risks to both patients and pharmacists. The public expect and deserve a pharmacist to be present and to be at the heart of the pharmacy at which they present for their medicines or advice, this concept must lie at the very core of any new proposals on how pharmacy is to be operated in the future.”

However, delegates at the conference heard that whilst remote supervision would not be acceptable, the traditional established approach to supervision was indeed in need of an overhaul.

Unveiling the next part of the PDA’s plan to stop remote supervision, Mark Koziol said;

“In our campaign  to stop remote supervision, we must ensure that we do not try to maintain the Status Quo . The traditional system of supervision is no longer suitable for modern pharmacy practice and does not benefit the public, nor the profession.

If the government’s justification for remote supervision was a long overdue overhaul of the supervision rules, then lets give them the overhaul that is being called for, but let these be our proposals, those of the profession and not those of the government.”

Appealing to the wider profession he said;

“The fact that we have, through the recent RPSGB election result, had such an overwhelming demonstration of antipathy toward remote supervision and that we have an impending general election, means there is a window of opportunity to seize the initiative on supervision from the hands of the government and develop our own profession backed plan. We therefore call for the pharmacy representative bodies to meet urgently so as to consider ways in which to develop a new and improved plan for supervision in pharmacy which has at its core the important safety feature of the presence of the pharmacist. Unlike previous pharmacy initiatives, let us ensure that the development of such a plan involves the wider membership. The outcome that we seek is one that delivers benefits to patients and pharmacists.”

The PDA has written to employer and employee representative bodies and also to the RPSGB to ask that they lend their support to such an initiative.

ENDS.

NOTE FOR EDITORS – THE PHARMACISTS’ DEFENCE ASSOCIATION (PDA)

The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) is a not for profit organisation which aims is to act upon and support the needs of individual pharmacists and, when necessary, to defend their reputation. PDA currently has more than 15,500 members. The PDA Union was inaugurated in May 2008.
The primary aims of the PDA are to;

Support pharmacists in their legal, practice and employment needs.
Provide insurance cover to safeguard and defend the reputation of the individual pharmacist.
Proactively seek to influence the professional, practice and employment agenda to support members.
Lead and support initiatives designed to improve the knowledge and skills of pharmacists in managing risk and safe practices, so improving patient care.
Work with like-minded organisations to further improve the membership benefits to individual pharmacists.
Editors requiring further information should contact:

Mark Koziol, Chairman   mark.koziol@the-pda.org
John Murphy, Director   john.murphy@the-pda.org
Tel: 0121 694 7000
Fax: 0121 694 7001

The Pharmacists' Defence Association is a company limited by guarantee. Registered in England; Company No 4746656.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association is an appointed representative in respect of insurance mediation activities only of
The Pharmacy Insurance Agency Limited which is registered in England and Wales under company number 2591975
and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Register No 307063)

The PDA Union is recognised by the Certification Officer as an independent trade union.

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