Chair of the English Pharmacy Board reiterates need for government relationship with RPS

The result of the UK general election offers the Government “an opportunity to reset and rebuild its relationship with community pharmacy”, according to Sandra Gidley, chair of the English Pharmacy Board.

Speaking following the results of the UK General election 2017, in which the Conservative Party failed to take an overall majority despite receiving the largest share of the vote, Gidley said that the new government “must now start to work with the RPS and community pharmacy sector to describe a positive future where the skills of pharmacists working in community are properly utilised. Pharmacists, wherever they work, support high quality patient care and help ensure the public gets the best value from medicines”.

Gidley also reaffirmed the RPS’s place at the negotiating table. “The RPS will not stop advocating for continued support of their increasingly important role,” she said. “As we look ahead to the next Parliament, RPS will continue championing pharmacists in all settings as an integral part of the multidisciplinary team across the NHS.”

Sounding a note of optimism, Gidley also stated that “each of the main parties in England recognised the important role community pharmacists play in delivering healthcare in their manifestos.”

Gidley’s statement was issued on the RPS website, together with five recommendations from the RPS on how policymakers can utilise pharmacist expertise to the benefit of patients and the public. These include the greater incorporation of pharmacists into delivery of urgent and emergency care, and enabling —with patient consent — full read and write access to patient health records.