Half baked press reporting strikes again

Ajit Malhi, head of marketing services for AAH Pharmaceuticals, gives his response to the recent Daily Mail article criticising the ability of pharmacists to dispense P meds.

I was horrified and angry to read an article in the Daily Mail recently (April 13) with the headline ‘Pharmacists are selling more drugs over the counter, but is your chemist putting your life at risk?’

The article focused on the recent reclassification of Flomax MR as a P medicine. It was unfair and unbalanced. It described Flomax MR as being available over-the-counter and failed to make it clear that pharmacists must use their clinical judgement before dispensing and that pharmacists will refer the patient to their GP should symptoms persist.

Worse still it asked if patients can trust their local pharmacist and suggested that we should only be allowed to dispense medicines prescribed by a GP or OTC products such as aspirin.

This is an ignorant attack on the professionalism and expertise of community pharmacists. The reality is when it comes to medication and how they may interact with others we are more qualified than GPs. It is outrageous that the Daily Mail can infer that pharmacists are not qualified to make sound clinical decisions about dispensing P medicines.

Pharmacists do a fantastic job, often in difficult circumstances and the consultation and advice we provide keeps GP surgeries from being overwhelmed. Pharmacies are trusted by the public and they offer easy access to healthcare advice and services which is an invaluable part of our national health service.

For example, I recently came across a hypertensive patient who had gone years without having his blood pressure checked and medication reviewed yet the same patient is seen by the pharmacy month in and month out. Without my intervention that patient would have gone undiagnosed and untreated.

We are open when a doctor isn’t available or accessible and this work is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to reaching DH and NHS visions of improved patient choice closer to the home.

We should be calling for the pharmacy contract and the GP contract to be reviewed and re-structured in order to create greater opportunities for both sets of professional to work closer together.

The past year has seen us at AAH deliver All About Health to support pharmacists by helping them to guide patients on managing their own health and wellbeing. And, while we have set successful measures in place to encourage people through the pharmacy door all can be thrown into doubt by poor reporting.

We are at the coalface of healthcare; we advise on a number of conditions and ailments on a daily basis and will only recommend a treatment following strict questioning. And, if we have a concern, we recommend a visit to the GP.

I think if the Daily Mail even half understood the clinical contribution which pharmacists make, day in day out, they would be writing articles praising our role and not casting doubt over our professional abilities.