The Department of Health and Social Care’s (DH) long-awaited response to its pharmacy supervision consultation last week (July 17) revealed that “many individual pharmacists” did not support the proposals.
“While professional leadership bodies, trade bodies and individual pharmacy technicians mostly agreed with the proposals, we recognise that many individual pharmacists responding to the consultation did not,” it said.
But it added that the DH had “taken time to reflect” on the issues raised and understood that it needed to “do more to communicate how these changes will benefit and enable the pharmacist profession in the future”.
Read more: ‘Common-sense’: DH publishes draft supervision legislation
The 12-week consultation was launched in December 2023 and saw “more than 5,000 individuals and organisations” share their views, the DH said, adding that the proposals will enable “every pharmacist and pharmacy technician to fully use their unique training and expertise”.
It explained that of those who agreed with the proposals, many “expressed cautious or conditional agreement with the changes” while others “wished to hold back their agreement until they could see the detail of how reforms will be implemented”.
It added, however, that the “majority of pharmacy technicians welcomed the changes”, noting that “it is clear pharmacy technicians are ready to take the opportunity to work more autonomously within an agreed regulatory framework”.
No “remote supervision”
“Of the individuals who responded, there was a clear split between pharmacists, many of whom opposed the changes, and pharmacy technicians who overwhelmingly supported them,” the DH said.
Taking the first proposal as an example – “introducing authorisation of a pharmacy technician by a pharmacist” – it noticed a “stark difference” between the pharmacy professions’ responses, with 76% of pharmacists disagreeing but 88% of pharmacy technicians agreeing.
Concerns “generally related to the level of initial education and training required for pharmacy technicians and whether it was sufficient to take on these additional roles and responsibilities, and whether by extension this led to potential risks to patient safety”, it added.
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According to the DH, other concerns raised in the consultation included:
- Whether it will be a pharmacist or pharmacy technician who is “accountable if things go wrong”
- Fears that “employers would exploit the changes”
- Worries that the proposals could “lead to removal of pharmacists from pharmacies” by allowing pharmacists to “remotely supervise a pharmacy to the detriment of patients”
The DH stressed, however, that the supervision reforms are “not about removing pharmacists from pharmacies” or “allowing remote supervision”.
Read more: Supervision reform proposals could pose ‘risk to patient safety’, DH admits
They are also “not about removing the need for pharmacists to undertake appropriate clinical checks linked to the dispensing process” such as “carrying out the clinical check on a prescription”, it said.
The DH added that the “changes are enabling, not prescriptive, and are designed to enable pharmacists to spend less time on tasks that can be safely delegated and more time delivering clinical services”.
“Pharmacies will be able to continue to operate as they do now after the changes come into force and to introduce changes in their practice later or not at all,” it said.
“Cautious optimism”
The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) welcomed the government’s response with “cautious optimism”, recognising that it will enable pharmacists to “focus more on clinical services”.
“However, the success of this initiative will depend on how it is implemented and whether it truly supports the professional role of pharmacists as the medicines experts,” it said.
It “must ensure pharmacists are more, not less, accessible to patients”, it added, stressing that it “strongly cautions against any blurring of professional boundaries”.
Read more: UPDATED: DH launches long-awaited pharmacy supervision consultation
Meanwhile, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) said that the reforms “will maximise the use of the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, and make sure all members of the pharmacy team are empowered to contribute fully to patient care”.
“We are committed to making sure that the changes are implemented responsibly and are done in a way that protects patient safety,” it added.
Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) chief executive Dr Leyla Hannbeck welcomed the “sensible and positive changes”, adding that there will be “no more frustrating situations where the branch is open but no pharmacist is available”.
Read more: Supervision proposals: ‘The greatest pharmacy evolution in 70 years’
“The changes also help community pharmacies on high streets up and down the land compete with online pharmacies by offering greater convenience and flexibility,” she said.
And Community Pharmacy England (CPE) legal director Gordon Hockey said that “these changes are broadly what the sector has agreed, and we will now be looking closely at the details of the legislation”.
The Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK) said the draft legislation marks a “significant step forward in recognising and expanding the role of pharmacy technicians”.
Read more: Supervision of individual transactions ‘no longer’ needed, cross-sector group finds
It added that it is “committed to…developing clear, consistent guidance and standards that reflect the evolving scope of practice” such as on the “safe and effective handing out of pre-checked medicine bags” and “robust models for the authorisation and accountability of pharmacy technicians”.
“We are delighted by the outcome of the supervision consultation,” APTUK vice- and interim president Amy Laflin said, adding that it “will unlock the full potential of the pharmacy workforce and enhance accessibility, safety and efficiency”.
The DH finally published plans to reform community pharmacy supervision last week, with the changes to come into force by the end of this year.
