Homeopathic Pharmacy

This is a good time to publish a book on homeopathic pharmacy. Not only did we celebrate the 250th year of the birth of Samuel Hahnemann in 2005, but the opportunities for a proper integrative healthcare system have never been greater. When I was writing the first edition of this book, more than 10 years ago, healthcare delivery was taking place in a very different environment: general practitioners diagnosed and prescribed, pharmacists dispensed and counselled patients - albeit with some hesitation - and nurses looked after patients with the same traditional skills they had used for centuries. On a corporate level, none of us talked to our non-medically qualified practitioners. On a personal level, some of our best friends were professional homeopaths and we interacted frequently. In the UK, the shift from a product-oriented health service to a patient-oriented service and the granting of NHS prescribing rights to healthcare professionals other than doctors have brought about a totally different situation.'Fire-fighting' disease is no longer our main aim; instead this is merely one of many, situated half way along a continuum extending from the promotion and maintenance of good health at one end to ongoing support and rehabilitation at the other. An integrative healthcare system and the creation of a team approach to patient care will offer real benefits both clinically and economically. Homeopathy has enjoyed a special status since the NHS was set up but it surely cannot be too long before other disciplines become equally valued. It is to be hoped that as current dialogue with professional homeopaths and fellow practitioners in other disciplines progresses, their potential contribution within an expanded NHS will be recognised too. Evidence based medicine is an important issue and undoubtedly there are substantial gaps in our knowledge as far as homeopathy is concerned. In many instances we do not know how, why or even whether it works. Although we have moved on greatly in the past decade there is still much more to do before we can offer the sort of evidence that is acceptable to colleagues, patients and purchasing authorities.Despite this, people do appear to benefit from homeopathy and that is what really matters. Now that homeopathic pharmacy has acquired a generic status (that is, it has become a subject in its own right and not just something pharmacists do). I have tried to make this second edition of "Homeopathic Pharmacy" more appealing to homeopathic practitioners in general. Chapters have been updated and in some cases expanded and reorganised. As in the first edition, some important material is repeated so that chapters may be read in isolation without the need to flick back and forth. Topics that appear in more than one chapter are cross-referenced. The main thrust of the book remains unchanged - it is intended to support the provision of homeopathic healthcare by practitioners at preliminary and intermediate levels. Finally, I offer my thanks to all those colleagues who have taken the time and trouble to contact me with helpful suggestions. Comments are always welcome.