Building bridges: pharmacists reaching out to help their communities

The COVID-19 pandemic has starkly exposed how inequalities in health can be affected by factors such as ethnicity, gender or geography — and all the evidence points to these getting worse.

But in this episode of The PJ Pod, we hear from two pharmacists trying to turn this around.

First, Ade Williams, superintendent pharmacist at Bedminster Pharmacy in Bristol, explains how he used a ‘Pulse in the Pub’ blood pressure checking service as a springboard to better understand his local community’s health needs.

Second, Suhayla Dhanji Merali, advanced specialist pharmacist for perinatal services at Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, speaks about her outreach work in perinatal mental health, and going into local mosques to help people get the support they need.

Lastly, Carolyn Wickware, investigations editor at The Pharmaceutical Journal, outlines new data that shows how funding cuts are putting much-needed pharmacy services at risk in England’s most deprived areas.

This episode was presented by Corrinne Burns, reporter at The Pharmaceutical Journal, and produced by Geoff Marsh.

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Please email us with a brief description of any initiative you are involved in that aims to narrow health inequality at: editor@pharmaceutical-journal.com