Commenting on the supervision regulations being laid today, Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of the CCA said:
“We welcome the laying of the supervision regulations today and publication of the Department’s response to the supervision consultation.
The proposed changes align with those of the Supervision Practice Group, made up of the CCA, Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK), the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA), National Pharmacy Association (NPA), the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA), Pharmacy Forum NI, and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS).1 2
These changes provide the basis for the greatest evolution in pharmacy practice for 90 years, freeing up pharmacists to spend more time with patients and deliver more NHS care.
This is the culmination of extensive work and stewardship by the CCA dating back seven years.
In 2018, following a pause in the workings of the ‘Rebalancing Board’3 it was made clear to me by officials at the Department and the then Chief Pharmaceutical Officer that the Department could not move to make changes to supervision laws until a clear consensus was reached across the profession and sector.
In 2019, I invited the NPA and the IPA to work with us to develop robust proposals for the future of supervision, with work continuing into 2020. In 2021, we invited the bodies representing pharmacy professionals from across the UK to discuss possible solutions. Recognising the need for a solid consensus among all parts of the sector, the CCA later facilitated the creation of the Supervision Practice Group in 2022. We provided the secretariat support for the group as it undertook to crystallise its views into a single report, setting out a unified vision for supervision changes. This report was released in August 2023.
The changes have always been intended to develop community pharmacy practice to meet the new challenges it faces and be ready for a more clinical future. This legislation does that, bringing community pharmacy practice into the 21st century.”
References
1 – Supervision in community pharmacy, Recommendations from the Supervision Practice Group, 1 August 2023
2 – CCA, The CCA welcomes the Supervision Practice Group Report, 1 August 2023
3 – Pharmaceutical Journal, ‘Rebalancing board is ‘not actively considering’ supervision, says chair‘, 6 March 2019