Temporary changes to Mental Health Act could provide opportunities for psychiatric pharmacists

摘要

Pharmacists working in psychiatric care have welcomed Government proposals to make temporary changes to the Mental Health Act in anticipation of the swine influenza pandemic putting extra pressure on services in England this autumn.Currently, two doctors are required to review, and then approve, the medication prescribed to a patient who has been detained in hospital under the Act after three months. If the pandemic escalates triggering NHS staff shortages, predicted to be as high as 25 per cent, the Government wants to allow that review to be conducted by a single doctor.