[Tony Schofield]

Hi.

I have prescribed and dispensed methadone, subutex and palliative medications (buscopan, paracetamol etc) for opiate dependent patients in my pharmacy. I have checked it out with the Society's inspector and as long as my ACT (I have 3) has confirmed details with me the Society will not hang me.

I appreciate that this will not be to the taste of others but the whole idea of allowing nurses and pharmacists to prescribe was to improve access to medicines. I am not a jealous custodian of the "pharmacist final check" believing that dispensing doctors have been doing such things for decades and there is no evidence that patient safety has actually been compromised.

I feel I must point out here however that due to a change in my circumstances I now do employ another pharmacist so the process in my pharmacy would be that I prescribe and a pharmacist could, and does check the dispensing process. I don't feel ready to throw the baby out with the bath water just yet!

With regard to a robot......... a final check can of course be performed by an ACT. I am not yet convinced of the value of robots but by the time I retire I expect we will have at least one.

Pharmacist prescribers are under exactly the same pressures as any other prescriber to prescribe for profit. However, I would expect that if such a thing was proven the penalties would be high.

The times are changing and it will be interesting to see how pharmacists take up and discharge prescribing. Conflicts of interest are a serious issue that will need careful managing. Prescribing for drug addicts is not subject to much incentive to prescribe for profit and currently controlled drugs still require a clinical management plan so opportunities for abuse are limited.