LONDON, January 15 /PRNewswire/ --

David Pruce, Director of Policy and Communications at the Society commented:

The Society welcomes initiatives relating to greater self care support and believes that the reclassification of certain therapeutic categories of medicines from POM to P can enhance customer choice, convenience and access to medicines.

Pharmacists are highly qualified professionals and experts in medicines and reclassification enables them to better use their clinical skills. They already supply medicines following strict protocols and refer patients to their doctor where appropriate. The switches from prescription only to pharmacy medicines follow a highly regulated consultation process which imposes rigorous safety criteria when determining whether proposed switches should go ahead.

In terms of symptoms management, pharmacists are already familiar with the management of cystitis. Over-the-counter trimethoprim will provide an additional treatment option and increase treatment choice for women with cystitis. Pharmacy staff will be provided with appropriate training material prior to any oral antibiotics becoming commercially available over-the-counter.

The proposals to reclassify trimethoprim seek to substitute for prescriptions rather than to increase overall usage. Indeed, a restriction of the pack size to 3 days supply will limit the amount of antibiotic that is supplied to nationally agreed quantities, while we are aware that many prescriptions currently exceed this quantity. It should, therefore, not be assumed that changing the legal status to P status will increase usage of these medicines or adversely affect antibiotic resistance.

Availability of products such as sumatriptan and chloramphenicol eyedrops enables pharmacists to provide greater treatment choice for conditions that they are already familiar with treating (migraine, conjunctivitis); switches such as simvastatin for raised cholesterol provide opportunity to provide additional advice on healthy lifestyle management etc.

For media enquiries please contact the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain's Public Relations Unit: +44(0)20-7572-2336