"No kidding" - a polemic

On September 20, 2022, the article "Bez żartów" written by mgr farm was published in the Pharmacy Magazine. Marek Tomków. Excerpt: "Six Minutes. This was the length of the training course where pharmacists learned how to take swabs from COVID-19 patients. Half of it was spent watching an instructional video on how to swab correctly. As it turned out, the movie was off-topic and showed the wrong place where the material was downloaded. Well, it happens. We've never been taught this before by anyone. Several hundred pharmacists started testing and did excellent, though obviously not without loud and critical comments about the pace and quality of the training. They did it, although we had heard before that it was at least as difficult as climbing K2, and in winter. "

The facts are as follows: Marek Tomków, vice-president of the Supreme Pharmaceutical Council (NRA), led to the fact that in pharmacies antigen tests could be performed free of charge. It was a disgrace to the NRA, because pharmacists, as a rule, should deal with drugs, not swabs, or "poking" in the nose.

The swab taken is potentially infectious biological material. The NRA should take measures that reduce and not increase the exposure of pharmacists to epidemic threats, because pharmacists, within their competences and core activities, must guarantee drug safety to the public. The negligible interest in performing tests in pharmacies proves that the vast majority of pharmacists understand the principle of compliance with the sanitary regime in the case of infectious biological material. Unfortunately, the presidents of the NRA do not understand this. Everyone has the right to be stupid. But some people abuse this privilege. It should be emphasized that the minister of health mocked pharmacists, because free tests were performed in pharmacies only for two months.

Can any pharmacist do vaccinations? Only one who has completed two courses (theoretical and practical). Will every pharmacist be able to perform diagnostic tests? Only the one who completes a specific course. This is obvious and no one is questioning it.

There is no doubt that the performance of drug reviews is the most difficult and complicated service, because it requires appropriate preparation in the field of: interview gathering, detailed analysis of patients' various drug situations, preparation of appropriate recommendations and undertaking substantive clinical discussions with a physician. Since the performance of a simple service (vaccination, diagnostic test) requires the completion of the course, it is obvious that in order to be able to perform drug checkups, an appropriate course must be completed.

Meanwhile, the vice president says that "Six thousand hours is how long it takes to study pharmacy, and yet when you need to undergo a drug check-up, we are still supposedly not ready. For the one service we've been training for over the years. Of course, this knowledge has to be organized, adapted to the patterns, but proving that you need to complete special studies for a bag of cash (often despite having a specialization) to do reviews. No kidding. Thousands of pharmacists are ready to get started. To start studying and doing reviews, and not start collecting money for additional studies, without which they are allegedly not even fit to participate in the pilot. "

It is a big mistake for the NRA to claim that a graduation in pharmacy qualifies you for pharmaceutical care. The best proof is that there is a statutory requirement for lifelong learning. The pharmacist is obliged to improve his/her professional skills by participating in courses carried out by means of lectures, seminars and exercises.

The Act on the Pharmacy Profession entered into force on April 16, 2021 and introduced new rules for pharmaceutical care. Performing drug check-ups is a new competence that requires additional qualifications that must be acquired on the appropriate course.

A special operation regarding drug reviews has been underway in the NRA for several months: the legal position of the Legal Office of the Supreme Pharmaceutical Chamber, the position of the President of the Supreme Pharmaceutical Court and the Supreme Professional Liability Officer, and an article by the vice president of the Polish Chamber of Pharmacists. Was the next step a partial mobilization?

MA farm. Walenty Zajdel