Aronson et al yet again remind us of the complex demands and risks
associated with the activity known as prescribing.
Aronsen et al comment on the multiplicity of medicine charts used in
hospitals. Audits in my Trust indicate that prescribing using these
important forms remains problematic and unsafe despite the fact that safe
systems of work have been promulgated by hospitals for decades. Is poor
prescribing a cultural issue?
It is common for newly qualified doctors to be introduced to safe
medicines practise in their first months by the ward pharmacist who
contributes signficantly to safe prescribing.
Many professionals have welcomed the extention of prescribing rights
beyond the medical profession yet many mental health Trusts have added
post-graduate courses to ensure that newly qualified non-medical
prescribers have the correct skill set and competencies. The issues
around medical prescribing is one that should exercise all prescribers.
Within my own organisation there is a recognition that there are gaps
in the knowledge base of newly qualified prescribers in competencies
required for effective and safe prescribing. Addressing this is surely
multi-disciplinary and involves pre- and post-graduate training,work
experience and the support of skilled pharmacists.
We have recently appointed suitably qualified pharmacist's to support
prescribers through education and interaction in prescribing processes.
Our strategy is to avoid the green pen or the phone call in the middle of
a busy surgery by education and real time co-operation in prescribing
decisions. We aim to ensure prescribing is patient centred and holistic.
We look forward to the time when decision support software will
assist prescribers and also the challenge of ensuring the right support is
there on screen.
As Jenny Scott has indicated in a previous rapid response, the proven
impact of pharmacists in safe prescribing is both overlooked and
undervalued all clinical milieu and is systematically undermined by
remuneration systems that relate more closly to payment for piecework on
the shop floor than safe medicines management.
Competing interests:
Chair of United Kingdom Psychiatric Pharmacy Group
Competing interests:
No competing interests
04 September 2006
Graham Parton
Chief Pharmacist, Avon and Wiltsghire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
Rapid Response:
Pharmacists - on the job trainers?
Aronson et al yet again remind us of the complex demands and risks
associated with the activity known as prescribing.
Aronsen et al comment on the multiplicity of medicine charts used in
hospitals. Audits in my Trust indicate that prescribing using these
important forms remains problematic and unsafe despite the fact that safe
systems of work have been promulgated by hospitals for decades. Is poor
prescribing a cultural issue?
It is common for newly qualified doctors to be introduced to safe
medicines practise in their first months by the ward pharmacist who
contributes signficantly to safe prescribing.
Many professionals have welcomed the extention of prescribing rights
beyond the medical profession yet many mental health Trusts have added
post-graduate courses to ensure that newly qualified non-medical
prescribers have the correct skill set and competencies. The issues
around medical prescribing is one that should exercise all prescribers.
Within my own organisation there is a recognition that there are gaps
in the knowledge base of newly qualified prescribers in competencies
required for effective and safe prescribing. Addressing this is surely
multi-disciplinary and involves pre- and post-graduate training,work
experience and the support of skilled pharmacists.
We have recently appointed suitably qualified pharmacist's to support
prescribers through education and interaction in prescribing processes.
Our strategy is to avoid the green pen or the phone call in the middle of
a busy surgery by education and real time co-operation in prescribing
decisions. We aim to ensure prescribing is patient centred and holistic.
We look forward to the time when decision support software will
assist prescribers and also the challenge of ensuring the right support is
there on screen.
As Jenny Scott has indicated in a previous rapid response, the proven
impact of pharmacists in safe prescribing is both overlooked and
undervalued all clinical milieu and is systematically undermined by
remuneration systems that relate more closly to payment for piecework on
the shop floor than safe medicines management.
Competing interests:
Chair of United Kingdom Psychiatric Pharmacy Group
Competing interests: No competing interests