UniChem chairman calls for action

The chairman of the UniChem company Mike Smith has called for action rather than rhetoric when it comes to reforming the healthcare sector in the UK.

Mr Smith maintains that while there are a number of high-profile reports and reviews being published this year, the sum total of them all has so far had only a limited impact on healthcare provision.

He insists that the plan being put forward by the government in its white paper and the Clarke report ought to offer more detail of how the finances of the NHS and the pharmacy sector will operate in years to come.

On the subject of the two new clinical director appointments designed to provide more support for pharmacies and direction for primary care trusts, he said they would be beneficial “as long as they are effective and do not simply increase the numbers of administrators that burden the NHS”.

The Clarke report was published earlier this year after an inquiry Nigel Clarke into how best to establish new professional pharmacy body to represent the interests of the industry in the UK.