Pharmacy Voice has begun a series of ‘Lightening the Load’ scrutiny panels, at which regulators, NHS bodies and executive agencies are quizzed about their impact on community pharmacies. First to take the hot seat were representatives from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), who came in front of the panel on Tuesday, exactly one year after GPhC’s establishment.
Pharmacy Voice chief executive, Rob Darracott, said:
“We had a frank exchange with GPhC about irritations such as the rolling register. We also asked for their assurances that there would be minimum duplication with other agencies, such as the Care Quality Commission and PCTs (or whatever replaces them). We don’t want a GPhC inspector coming though the front door of a pharmacy to inspect premises 10 minutes after a local NHS manager has done the same thing.
“The GPhC reps were very open with us and they have invited us to present in writing a detailed list of concerns and wishes. They seem genuinely to want to flush out current concerns and anticipate new ones, so that they can be addressed.”
Hugh Simpson (Director of Policy and Communication) and Hilary Lloyd (Director of Regulatory Services) took questions from Pharmacy Voice members at the National Pharmacy Association HQ in St Albans.
Pharmacy Voice wants to build a community pharmacy service that supports patients, the public and the NHS in meeting successfully the many challenges facing us in the future. One of the barriers to achieving this vision is the growing burden of bureaucracy on front-line practitioners. The aim of the workstream to is identify and challenge unnecessary administration to free pharmacist time for more patient-facing activities.