Standards, standards everywhere. I recently, in common with over 1,000 colleagues, breathed a substantial sigh of relief. I was deemed to have met the IIOP standard of CPD assessment. Having been through this process twice, it seems fair to note that it isn’t difficult. That isn’t to say that it’s not stressful. There is always the little monkey, sitting over your left shoulder, telling you that you ‘gonna fail this’.
Currently there is a PSI review taking place of how pharmacists CPD can be appropriately assessed. This is always contentious. The broad stroke decisions have already been made, as can be seen on the PSI website. As stakeholders, we are all being asked for our input over the summer. Now that most of us have had the benefit of the older, attendance-based system, rather than the current reflective practise-based system, you might feel you have an important view to contribute to this process. Keep an eye on your emails. Inside this issue, there is a great overview of the European Health Data Space (EHDS). While this may seem of complete academic interest, it is anything but. I think it should be regarded more like an FMD moment from two decades ago. It appears far away but, soon enough, it will influence a major part of your working day. Even if you look at the broad strokes of EHDS, you will see that it has very simple and desirable goals. It wants to put in structures that allows for standards in healthcare data that facilitates movement of patients and people. This is the data equivalent of motherhood and apple pie, something that nobody can really argue against. Many of you will know that I have been involved in the issue of standards in community pharmacy software for decades. Of the many issues faced, one of the real showstoppers, was the lack of any, or perhaps too many, competing standards in the general healthcare data area. For example, of critical importance was our inability to uniquely identify patients in Ireland. It’s funny, when COVID-19 arrived, we suddenly realised that the PPS number wasn’t so bad, after all. In an ironic twist, using the PPS in actually facilitated the generation of the individual health identifier, the IHI. This was something most of you would have seen on the HSE PharmaVax system. It is finally almost here. Baby steps. Our digital ecosystem is finally starting to mature.
On a parallel vein, it would be remiss not to note what seems to be another seismic shift in community pharmacy. The work of the Expert Taskforce, which has had little enough practical impact on us so far, is about to hit supernova. At the recent IPU annual conference we heard a presentation from a most interesting Kerryman, Dr Pat O’Mahony. It was an impressive talk from an equally imposing individual. It was clear, from the moment he started speaking, that this man had a very clear-eyed view of his brief. It was also abundantly obvious that the Taskforce had the ear of the right people. We have had enough talking shops, with reports on the future of pharmacy, gathering dust on the shelves in both PSI, the Department of Health, and elsewhere. While there is always possibility of a damp squib, this Taskforce has the wherewithal to ensure that their recommendations are taken seriously. It is hard not to feel a level of enthusiasm about the current trajectory of Irish community pharmacy. We are looking at an incremental rewriting of our roles.
It has been obvious from the last few decades that pharmacy graduates have been brimming full of knowledge. One of the many frustrations felt was that they could never put much of this key clinical information into practise. Hampered by archaic working systems, and vested interests, we have been very much confined to a restrictive supply role. There have been glimmers of hope. The pharmacy contract, particularly clause nine, of the 1990s, created both an obligation and a mechanism for ensuring patient quality and safety. Additionally, the fact that the majority of us are now comfortable sticking a needle into a patient is testament to how things have changed. As I write, the Department of Health consultation on the framework that pharmacists will work under for the treatment of common conditions, has gone to public consultation. It is hard not to see this as an important milestone. While prudence cautions otherwise, I am really optimistic that a suitable mechanism can be found for us to safely operate in this space. As importantly, you have the ability to have your say. We are no longer talking if, we are talking how. Get your observations in. It is not an understatement to note that you will be influencing your workplace for the foreseeable future. Not many professions get that opportunity. Use it.
Further information on the Department of Health’s public consultation to help inform the expansion of the role of pharmacists, can be found in this issue in IPU News.
