Andy Gray
In my report to the PSSA AGM in early June, I stated that "If one word could be used to typify the past year in the life of hospital and institutional pharmacists, it could perhaps be "lobbying", for this certainly was a year of putting forward views, trying to influence others and of taking stands on issues of importance". That statement might be interpreted solely in the terms of input into the legislative process. However, it is not only national law that will guide our practice. Subordinate legislation, in the form of Regulations published by the Minister or Rules issued by the Pharmacy Council, is also being prepared. One such document is the Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) Guidelines. Of necessity, this must be a product of compromise, an expression of the barest minimum that constitutes acceptable practice, developed within what is euphemistically called an "affordability paradigm". Do professional organisations such as SAAHIP have a role to play here, in complementing the GPP document? I believe we do, for just as Council must state the "have to have" elements in regulatory form, so can we express the "nice to have" in aspirational statements of what SAAHIP considers good practice. The field is wide open – how about some ideas from the workplace of areas of practice in which we could develop practice guidelines? There are excellent examples from similar organisations abroad, but they need adaptation to local conditions. The so-called "Ethical Rule 1" was observed more in the breach in many public sector hospitals, conveniently ducked in a milieu of remarkable civil disobedience perpetrated by civil servants – could we not start with a practice guideline on what constitutes acceptable dispensing practice in the hospital out-patient setting? Let us state our case for quality of care on our terms, not just wait for Pretoria’s imprimatur.
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