Pharmacy Profession + Information Sources

Question 1

What is a profession? What are the characteristics?

Answer 1

specialised knowledge and training
- distinguishes professionals from consumers
service orientation
- must act in the best interest of the client
monopoly of practice
- is a protected title, has requirements in order to be able to carry out the work
self-regulation
- is regulated by members of the profession itself

Question 2

Who is the regulatory board of pharmacy? What are they responsible for?

Answer 2

GPhC
- The General Pharmaceutical Council is the statutory regulator of the pharmacy profession

is responsible for

• the registration of pharmacy premises
• enforcing certain provisions under the Medicines Act 1968 and the Poisons Act 19782

Question 3

What are the different types of pharmacy workplace?

Answer 3

community pharmacy - retail, chain or independent
institutional pharmacies
- hospitals, GP surgery, hospice, prison
academia
pharmaceutical industry
pharmacy organisations

Question 4

What is the main role of the pharmacist?

Answer 4

to give patient/person centred care

Question 5

Who is regulated by the GPhC?

Answer 5

pharmacist
pharmacy technicians
pharmacy premises

Question 6

What are pharmacy technicians? What is their role? What qualifications required?

Answer 6

are members of the pharmacy team and work under the supervision of the pharmacist

roles include dispensing, manufacturing, medicines management, clinical trials, management and supervision of staff

knowledge-based qualification and competency based qualification

must register with the GPhC

Question 7

What are the types of information sources?

Answer 7

primary sources
secondary sources
tertiary sources

Question 8

What is a primary source? What are the advantages and disadvantages of it?

Answer 8

it is original research study in ‘peer reviewed’ journals

advantages

• original and up to date
• written by the researcher

disadvantages
- risk of the study being flawed, fraudulent or misleading

Question 9

What is a secondary source?

Answer 9

it is a review article published in a peer reviewed journal

referenced textbook

Question 10

What is a tertiary source? What are the advantages and disadvantages of it?

Answer 10

are mainly textbooks

advantages
- useful starting point for an information search

disadvantages

• may be outdated
• may be authored by a non-specialist
• may contain subjective information
• may not be well referenced

Question 11

When was the Medicines Act? When was the Poisons Act?

Answer 11

Medicines Act - 1968

Poisons Act - 1972

Question 12

What are the different sources of information for pharmacists?

Answer 12

BNF - British National Formulary 
MEP - Medicines, Ethics and Practice 
NICE guidance - National Institute for Health and Care Excellence 
Martindale - complete drug reference 
Stockley's Drug Interactions 
Summary of Product Characteristics
MHRA - Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency 
Primary and Secondary Literature

Question 13

What is the BNF? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the BNF?

Answer 13

British National Formulary

• authoritative and practical information on the selection, prescribing, dispensing and administration of medicines
• gives information on drugs prescribed in the UK

advantages

• information based on diverse sources
• always up-to-date = updated twice a year
• product of a vigourous, accredited creation process = independent
• rapid reference guide

disadvantages
- has limited information on certain areas, should be used in conjunction with other resources

Question 14

What is the MEP?

Answer 14

Medicines, Ethics and Practice

• provides information on the legal requirements for the prescribing and handling (dispensing, administration, storage, destruction) of medicinal products
• helps identify steps to resolve a problem/issue in practice
• does not give legal advice
• published yearly

Question 15

What is NICE?

Answer 15

National Institute for Health Care and Excellence

• minimises variation in the availability and quality of care and treatments in the NHS
  = prevents unequal treatments, improves equality

-independent of the government
= not biased

• develops guidance on the promotion of good health, prevention of ill health, etc
  = clinical, public health and social care guidelines
• develops guidance on the use of new and existing treatments within the NHS
  = diagnostic, medical technologies and interventional procedure guidelines

Question 16

What is Martindale?

Answer 16

Martindale - the complete drug reference

• global, comprehensive reference source about drugs and medicine = multi-lingual
• expertly curated information on the characteristics of drugs and their clinical use
• covers herbals, diagnostic agents, radiopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical excipients, toxins and poisons
• reviewed and updated every 3 months

Question 17

Which information source includes information on herbals, toxins, poisons, diagnostic agents and radiopharmaceutical?

Answer 17

Martindale

• global, comprehensive reference source about drugs and medicine

Question 18

What is Stockley’s Drug Interactions?

Answer 18

Drug Interactions
- comprehensive and authoritative international reference on drug interactions

• drug-drug, drug-herb, drug-food interactions
• provides information on the clinical evidence, mechanism, importance and management of each interaction