The Department of Health and Social Care has issued a public consultation on two draft proposals, developed over a period of time by the Rebalancing Programme Board.

The draft proposals relate firstly, to extending the defences for inadvertent preparation and dispensing errors already in place for pharmacy professionals working in registered pharmacies, to these staff working in hospitals and other places where pharmacy services are delivered, such as care homes and prisons.

Secondly, they relate to clarifying and strengthening the organisational governance requirements for registered pharmacies. This is particularly looking at the roles of Responsible Pharmacists and Superintendent Pharmacists.

APTUK President, Tess Fenn, responding to the consultation launch, says: “I am delighted that the proposals to extend the dispensing error defences, put into place in April 18 for pharmacy professionals working in registered pharmacies, are being consulted on.  This is a significant step forward and will provide a parallel defence for those pharmacy technicians working in hospitals and other pharmacy environments. I am also pleased that the consultation on the responsible pharmacist and superintendent pharmacists has been launched at the same time. These are important proposals aimed at giving assurance to organisational management, proper oversight, responsibilities and accountability. This, together with embedding quality systems into new ways of working, will support the innovation of pharmacy services and the development of the pharmacy team.”

APTUK will be responding to the consultations which close on the 11th September 2018. Our response will be collated, after gathering views and opinions, from discussions with our branches and members.

For further information, click on the links below:

• The consultation can be found on the gov.uk website
• If you would like to know more about the draft proposals the Department of Health and Social Care have put together a number of frequency asked questions
• Pharmacy legislation on dispensing errors and organisational governance