Proposals by the Department of Health and Social Care to steer pharmacy from ministerial legislation to professional regulation are to be welcomed, the Company Chemists’ Association has said, but further clarification is needed around proposed changes to how pharmacy team roles are defined.

The CCA’s comments came on the final day (Tuesday September 11) of a DHSC consultation dealing with the division of responsibilities within pharmacy teams.

CCA chief executive Malcolm Harrison said: “We welcome proposals to move from legislation to regulation in pharmacy, but any changes must enable the further evolution of community pharmacy services.

“We continue to support the principle of one pharmacy, one pharmacist. Nevertheless, we also see this as an opportunity to start to unlock the potential provided by the whole pharmacy team to deliver timely and cost-effective services for patients and the NHS and move away from outdated legislation.”

“Community pharmacy must not be held back by laws made half a century ago,” Mr Harrison said, adding that the CCA “continues to call on the Rebalancing Medicines Legislation and Pharmacy Regulation Programme Board, which is reviewing the legislation around pharmacy across the UK, to maintain the momentum recently gained.

“We need to work together to ensure that evolving legislation and regulation is safe, efficient and contributes to securing improved patient outcomes.”