'Prescription for excellence': making the change from vision to reality

摘要

"PRESCRIPTION for excellence", the Scottish Government's 10-year vision and action plan for pharmacy is six months old. Is it starting to become a reality? The answer — surprisingly, given the visionary nature of the plan — is "yes". It is too early for whole-scale change but there are examples of innovation the length and breadth of Scotland. Take a pharmacist-run polypharmacy project that cut hospital admissions (Panel 1), a pharmacy group practice model (Panel 2) or an independent prescriber service (Panel 3). All three deliver the aims of "Prescription for excellence". It may be some time before this type of pharmacy practice becomes the norm but the atmosphere among pharmacists attending the Pharmacists' Defence Association conference — held in Glasgow on 6 March 2014 — was positive.