Letters

Letter

Accessing post-registration training: a regional survey

In 2022, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) highlighted a lack of consistency and quality assurance in post-registration education and training for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians[1]. At a time when the NHS is under significant pressure and there is a shortage of pharmacy staff, un…

Published: 18 March 2024

Letter

Pharmacy management would do well to remember Maslow’s theory

Having taught pharmacy management at University College London School of Pharmacy for some years with occasional sessions at the King's College London and University of East Anglia schools, I was delighted to note Parastou Donyai’s mention of Abraham Maslow’s 'Hierarchy of Needs' ('Are we self-a…

Published: 12 March 2024

Letter

Pharmacy First is a step too far unless staffing issues are addressed

I have never felt the need to express my frustrations with our profession so strongly. Over the past ten years or so, we have just had more and more dumped on us. We are dispensing more prescriptions than ever and yet staff have been reduced to dangerously low levels everywhere owing to the increasi…

Published: 6 March 2024

Letter

The privilege of becoming an RPS Fellow

Seeing FPS (Fellow of the [then] Pharmaceutical Society) on the chief pharmacist’s door at Hereford General Hospital made quite an impression on me back in 1977. Still an undergraduate, I realised this was someone who had made a significant contribution to the profession I aspired to join. Later, …

Published: 21 February 2024

Letter

Using a support and development service to facilitate successful integration of pharmacy staff across a GP federation

England's introduction of the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) in 2019 sparked a seismic shift in the GP pharmacy workforce[1]. This pioneering scheme emerged as a cornerstone of the health service’s response to surging demand for services. This is evident if we look back at wor…

Published: 14 February 2024

Letter

Lessons learned from working in a non-pharmacy role within the NHS

After over a decade of a rewarding and varied career working in an acute setting and then as a senior pharmacist at a clinical commissioning group (CCG), I felt ready to take on new challenges within the profession. To help broaden my horizons, I secured an NHS executive mentor to enhance the s…

Published: 31 January 2024

Letter

Advanced-level pharmacists specialising in general practice will complement — not replace — the existing clinical workforce

The roles and training of pharmacists have developed extensively, particularly since 2003 when they were able to become supplementary prescribers and then independent prescribers in 2006. The expertise and skills of pharmacists were also recognised in NHS England's 'Clinical pharmacists in general p…

Published: 26 January 2024

Letter

Pharmacists are the new doctors, pharmacy technicians are the new pharmacists

It is difficult to overstate both the scale of changes and the rate of transformation of pharmacy since the start of the 21st century. Driven by government policy, professional ambition and public expectations, they have been truly astonishing. The government’s new 15-year plan for the NHS workfor…

Published: 24 October 2023

Letter

Nominations are open for upcoming 100-year anniversary of the Harrison Medal

In 2024, it will mark exactly 100 years since the Harrison Medal was first awarded by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) to recognise an individual’s outstanding contributions to advancing pharmaceutical science. The award was set up in memory of Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Frank Harrison (1869�…

Published: 16 October 2023

Letter

Is AI a threat to pharmacists?

In April 2023, I was asked, “Grandpa, did you know that your teacher cannot now tell if you or an AI chatbot has written an essay?” I did not. I was flabbergasted to discover that, broadly, it was true. Moreover, improvements appeared to be accelerating. I started to use the “free” Chat G…

Published: 11 October 2023