Widespread concerns across the entire profession have enabled discussions with senior government officials. It has been possible for PDA to promote a detailed proposal of what actions are urgently required. We are cautiously announcing that two of the PDA’s most important campaign objectives have received crucial backing;
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The PDA and the entire profession have strongly put their case for the decriminalisation of dispensing errors.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) and the Department of Health have now confirmed that they will amend the 1968 Medicines Act. These amendments will need to be carefully thought through and this will require input from the PDA and other pharmacy bodies. These amendments cannot be rushed; however, the good news is that they will seek to ensure that no other pharmacist will have to endure the experience of Elizabeth Lee.
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The PDA has called for a new interim protocol for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which needs to be in place urgently whilst the Medicines Act is in the process of being amended.
The intention of this will be to ensure that once any Criminal Negligence Manslaughter proceedings have been excluded (as in the Elizabeth Lee case) then no further criminal proceedings under the 1968 Medicines Act are continued by the Police but instead the entire matter is handed to the RPSGB so that it can be handled as a professional disciplinary matter. This is consistent with what happens with other healthcare professions in similar situations.
The Crown Prosecution Service has now agreed to consider new and more appropriate protocols on investigations involving pharmacists and to explore how such a regulatory handover may be undertaken. Whilst there can be no guarantee’s in this respect, importantly, it is the MHRA who have agreed to lead these discussions with the CPS.
But it’s not over yet!
Whilst these are all very good early indications, this is still only the beginning of the campaign. The PDA is seeking to deal with this matter in its broadest sense and that means that we must also push for working environments that are more conducive to patient safety. This means, the important discussion about a greater availability of trained support staff, the use of bar code technology to support accuracy checks, pressure on manufacturers to address the matter of similar packaging, an urgent re-appraisal of the Responsible Pharmacist regulations and the termination of the Remote Supervision proposal.
We thank all PDA members for their support thus far and we will be making specific requests for members to support aspects of the campaign in the future.