The chemist and druggist, 18/25. December 2010 (issue 6778)
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Breaking news online - updated daily www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk NEWS Stress levels are rising, support charity reports Calls to helpline double from those lacking confidence to practise Chris Chapman chris.chapman@ubm.com Many pharmacists appear to be lacking confidence in their ability to practice, possibly due to fears around the approach the new regulator will take and anxiety over the Elizabeth Lee case, charity Pharmacist Support has warned Calls to the charity's Listening Friends stress line had "more than doubled" in the past couple of months, charity manager Diane Leicester told C+D. And there had been an increase in the number of general enquiries received over the year, she said. Pharmacists' concerns tended to be complex, Ms Leicester said, but she added: "Of the people contacting the charity for assistance, many appear to share a common theme of what could be described as a lack of confidence in their own ability to practise "This could be as a result of fears surrounding the approach that the CPhC may take as a regulator, or more simply could be professional anxiety in the wake of the Lee case with professionals actively wanting to perform better." There had also been a growth in the number of requests for information relating to professional development, Ms Leicester revealed. The comments came after a report showed more than 50 community pharmacists were referred to the National Clinical Assessment Service (NCAS) for performance concerns in its first 15 months A total of 63 pharmacists were referred between April 2009 and July 2010 to the service, including 52 community pharmacists and 11 hospital pharmacists. Seven pharmacists referred themselves to the service, while 49 were referred by NHS organisations Governance or safety issues were the most common reasons for referral, and were raised in 44 per cent of cases, with misconduct mentioned in 38 per cent. HLPs are tipped for wider rollout Earl Howe: evidence from Portsmouth's HLP scheme "will be an amazing help" Evidence gathered from Portsmouth's Healthy Living Pharmacy (HLP) scheme could be used for commissioning future pharmacy services nationwide, pharmacy minister Earl Howe has said. Earl Howe told participating pharmacies he was optimistic that the evidence gathered by the scheme would be positive. "I want to take a very close look at the results for Portsmouth. I can't pre-empt the PCT's decision-making, but the evidence will be an amazing help to them and public health," Earl Howe said. The HLP scheme was commended in the public health white paper released this month PSNCsaid Earl Howe had agreed there was a "strong argument" to incorporate the Healthy Living Pharmacy model into a national pharmacy contract, should early results be sustained. However, how the service was funded would have to be decided on a local level, Earl Howe told C+D. He said that if similar schemes were to be rolled out, then evidence would need to be available and any commissioning decisions would have to be made locally "They have to be locally driven and the product of a needs assessment," Earl Howe said. His comments came after he praised Portsmouth's HLP scheme at an all-party pharmacy group meeting last week. HF Time running out in insulin Mixtard 30 switch Patients are running out of time to switch from insulin Mixtard 30, which will be withdrawn on December 31. The discontinuation of the insulin, used by an estimated 90,000 patients, was announced by manufacturer Novo Nordisk in June as part of a phased withdrawal of all types of human insulin. Patients still on the insulin were advised to consult a healthcare professional to ensure they are switched to another treatment. "The important thing now is to ensure everyone affected is switched onto an alternative before the medication is withdrawn," the charity Diabetes UK said. The warning followed a letter to pharmacists from manufacturer Lilly, advising that its prefilled insulin pens would be discontinued in favour of its KwikPen from April next year CC RPS votes yes Royal Pharmaceutical Society members have voted in favour of allowing student and associate membership. The ballot results revealed this week show that, on a 22.7 per cent turnout, 89.3 per cent voted in favour of student membership and 81.2 per cent of RPS members voted in favour of associate membership Bone density screening Bone density screening could offer opportunities for pharmacy, a recent trial exercise at Middlesex's Carter Chemist showed. PSNChead of NHS services Alastair Buxton said there was potential for such a service, which found 13 per cent of those screened were at high risk of fractures, to offer positive benefits to the NHS Avicenna director Avicenna has announced that David Coles is set to join its board as a non-executive director in the New Year. Mr Coles was formerly managing director at UniChem (now Alliance Healthcare) and chair of the BAPW. LAs 'back health role' Local authorities "strongly support" government plans to give them responsibility for public health as outlined in the NHS white paper, health minister Anne Milton has said. The comments came as a C+D poll found that half of respondents thought the proposal would make life for community pharmacy more complicated (see Dispensary Talk, p8). More on the above stories at www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk /news NCSO endorsements The DH and National Assembly for Wales have agreed to allow NCSO endorsements for the following items for December prescriptions: citalopram 10mg and 20mg tablets, gapapentin 100mg and 400mg tablets; sertraline 50mg tablets; and tamoxifen 20mg tablets.