This is a campaign letter for the 2021 RPS national pharmacy board elections. The views expressed in this letter belong to the author. Find out more about the RPS elections.
I have a dream … of a world filled with pharmacists, in a diverse range of sectors and roles, working in jobs they find rewarding, delivering patient-centred care. My aspiration is a world where, when healthcare is mentioned, pharmacists are amongst the first healthcare professionals to be acknowledged and recognised. Where patients recognise the contribution pharmacists make to healthcare outside of community pharmacy, as well as the contribution at the heart of our communities. Where pharmacists are integral to government briefings during a pandemic. Where pharmacists hold key leadership positions in healthcare organisations because of their transferable skills. We all feel empowered and equipped to make independent clinical decisions, and hold patients at the centre of everything we do. I love being a pharmacist, and my current role is incredibly rewarding. My hope is that every pharmacist wakes up in the morning with as much excitement for their day as I do.
We are going through such an exciting time as a profession. I am elated about the diversity of roles within our profession, which just wasn’t as prominent when I first qualified 15 years ago. It thrills me to see so many brilliant pharmacists in leadership positions and unique roles. I am always so proud when I hear stories of the brilliant care pharmacists provide in their day-to-day jobs. Pharmacists have seized opportunities during the pandemic, and have demonstrated they are integral to our healthcare systems.
I am always actively looking for opportunities where pharmacists can showcase transferable skills; I think we can get involved in much more than we currently are as a profession. I would love the chance to replicate the success I have achieved in my current organisation at a national level. For me, this starts first of all by recognising all the amazing work pharmacists are already doing in every sector. Then, by helping build the confidence of pharmacists, showing them what they could achieve. Key to this is also engaging with stakeholders such as doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. In order to thrive as a profession, we must adapt quickly to the changing healthcare environment. We must lift each other and come together as one voice; we are much stronger when we unite.
If you can relate to any of this, please vote for me on 29 April; if not, please just vote, your voice is important.
Nabila Chaudhri, election candidate, English Pharmacy Board, Royal Pharmaceutical Society
