Question 2: Do pharmacists need training for the NMS?

What you said: Pharmacists were divided on the issue of training, the pre-Senate survey revealed, reporting varying degrees of confidence. A quarter felt they could already offer the advice, while a third wanted a refresher course and another third said they would like additional training.

What the Senators said: Senators were confident pharmacists could deliver the service without any extra training. Pharmacists simply needed reassurance, argued Ravi Vaitha, pharmacist at Kamsons Pharmacy, Crawley. "I think it's a lack of confidence and we just need reassurance," he told the Senate. "We're meant to be the experts in medicines and explaining to patients how to take their medicines, so I don't think training is needed."

And Ms Lau welcomed the decision not to request accreditation from pharmacists. "You need to put this into context as this is something we're doing already – talking to patients who are prescribed new medicines," she stressed. "I'm pleased that we've not had to get contractors to go through that headache of getting accredited."

What the negotiator said: "I can't imagine people will need significant clinical up-skilling to deliver this," Mr Buxton says. "The challenge is going to be how we deliver it practically.

"One aspect of knowledge people might want to look into is the psychology of medicines-taking. This is an emerging area of psychology and I hope pharmacists will find it fascinating looking into the minds of patients and understanding what's stopping them from taking their medicine and what we can do as pharmacists to help them."