NAWP Newsletter – January 2024

A review of 2023

We would like to wish members a Happy New Year and we look forward to working with everyone to help create a safe space for women in pharmacy to help them thrive at work. We are happy our network is getting stronger and bigger: NAWP is here for every woman in pharmacy.

Let’s recap on what we achieved in 2023.

• We hosted a webinar for International Women’s Day, focusing on menopause, as well as organising the ‘My Brand, My Career, My Way’ events, which focused on personal and professional development.
• The NAWP Spotlight launched to celebrate World Menopause Day and we updated our menopause factsheet.
• We raised awareness around fertility problems and pregnancy loss and urged the government to focus on laws that can prevent sexual harassment. 
• NAWP took part again in ‘Wear It Pink’ to help raise awareness of breast cancer for Breast Cancer Now.
• We attended the European Women Pharmacists Meeting, focusing on how pharmacists can support women from puberty to menopause.
• We delivered sessions at the Pharmacy Show and with the RPS and APTUK, focusing on women in the workplace. We also attended an event celebrating women in pharmacy at the Houses of Parliament hosted by the RPS.
• We got invited onto the C+D pharmacy podcast series ‘A Coffee With…’ and were nominated for C+D’s Diversity and Inclusion award.

This year, we look forward to working on more projects around empowering women at work. We plan to focus particularly on how periods can impact women at work, as well as continuing to raise awareness of sexual harassment. We want more people to get involved with NAWP to help raise our voices together and we welcome all involvement and ideas.

Obtaining registration – my journey as an international pharmacist

I obtained my degree in Auckland, New Zealand in 2008, then completed my pre-registration and continued working as a community pharmacist. Whilst I never imagined leaving NZ, in 2010 I moved to England to be with my husband, embarking on the challenging process of meeting the requirements for overseas pharmacists in the UK.

Before the early 2000s, NZ pharmacists required one month of supervised practice for registration. However, due to new regulations, I had to follow the non-EU route. I completed the Overseas Pharmacists’ Assessment Programme (OSPAP) offered at only four UK universities to obtain the Postgraduate diploma for overseas pharmacists. The course aims to prepare non-EU pharmacists for UK practice.

During my pre-registration year I decided to explore hospital pharmacy. After successfully passing the registration exam, I finally obtained my pharmacist registration following a very stressful and costly 2-year process. I later transitioned to community pharmacy for increased flexibility as a mother.

The journey to register as an international pharmacist was frustrating, with some lecturers appearing patronizing towards international students. I believe dedicated support groups could offer enhanced guidance and support for OSPAP students. Whilst my pharmacist husband guided me in securing an early pre-registration placement, many of my peers faced challenges in securing one.

Whilst pharmacy in NZ and the UK are similar, slight differences exist in legal, regulatory aspects and prescription reimbursement processes. UK community pharmacists have a broader role, with the ability to offer additional services to patients. Despite these similarities, stereotypes endure in both countries, with patients presuming male dispensary staff are pharmacists. This highlights the global need to challenge societal norms related to assumed gender roles.

Learn more: 

• Worlds apart
• BAME Pharmacists’ Network – July 2020 (see: In Pursuit of Excellence – My Pharmacy Journey by Olutayo M Arikawe)

Feminine hygiene products for the eco-conscious

As pharmacists, we are in a good position to minimise health risks posed by traditional period products and offer advice about environmentally safe alternatives.

Mainstream period products (tampons and sanitary pads), apart from contributing to the global environmental disaster, pose a risk to health as they’re often laced with potentially harmful plastics and dipped in bleach which are exposed to your most porous and sensitive intimate areas for hours.

Eco-friendly options include:

• Menstrual cups – reusable cups that are inserted into the vagina and collect the blood.
• Menstrual discs – similar to cups, but thinner and wider, and can be worn during sex.
• Eco-pads – reusable cloth sanitary towels which can be washed and reused.
• Period underwear – special underwear that has absorbent layers and can be washed and reused.

Learn more: 

• Eco period products compared: period pants, menstrual cups and more

Tribute to Mrs Christina Margaret Griffiths: 1932 – 2023

Christina Margaret Griffiths (known as Margaret) died on 22 November 2023 aged 91. Margaret was born in London but lived in Cardiff for most of her life. She gained her pharmacy degree in Cardiff, a rare achievement for a woman in the 1950s, where she met her husband, John. They lived in the same house for over 60 years.

When working in Barry Island, Margaret became one of the first women to be appointed as manager of a Boots store, albeit on a temporary sick cover of 6 months. In this time the shop sales increased, due to Margaret’s ability to suggest what is now called ‘linked sales’ i.e. other items a patient might like to buy.

Margaret was an early member of NAWP Cardiff branch when it was set up in 1965. She attended nearly all the NAWP weekend schools, meeting and making friends with many NAWP members who all remember her as a lovely lady, always interested in what others were doing in the profession. For many years, Margaret was a locum pharmacist working in multiple independent shops in and around Cardiff.

Margaret served on the Royal Pharmaceutical Society – Cardiff Branch committee, for many years as Secretary. Conferences were a must, often accompanied by John. Margaret was a trailblazer for women’s equality in a quiet and unassuming way.

Cardiff City Football Club was her great passion. We all thought it was because she had three sons, but apparently not, she just loved football and would take the boys to every home match and many away ones, always having a season ticket. When they got to Wembley for the 5th time in 2010, she was on the bus with the other supporters.

Margaret’s great loves were pharmacy, family, faith, and football, in any order. Several staff members and owners were at her funeral, alongside other NAWP friends, her family, and members of her church. She will be greatly missed.

Learn more: 

• Tribute to Mrs Peggy Baker: 1932 – 2023
• Tribute to Mrs Pat Hoare (nee Willday) FRPharmS: 1945 – 2023

Pharmacy Contraception Service (Community Pharmacy England)

The Pharmacy Contraception Service (PCS) aims to increase the choice of where contraceptive services can be accessed and increase capacity in primary care and sexual health clinics to meet the demands for more complex assessments.

The PCS started on 24 April 2023, allowing the ongoing supply of oral contraception (OC) from community pharmacies. From 1 December 2023, the service included both the initiation and ongoing supply of OC.

The objectives of the service are to:

• Provide a model for community pharmacy teams to initiate the provision of OC, and to continue the provision of OC supplies initiated in primary care, including general practice and pharmacies or sexual health clinics and the equivalent. Both parts of the service, i.e. initiation and ongoing supply, will be undertaken using Patient Group Directions (PGDs) to support the review and supply process.
• Establish an integrated pathway between existing services and community pharmacies, thereby providing greater choice and access to OC.

We asked NAWP members if they had any concerns about this service. Some initial concerns raised were:

• Lack of ongoing support for the service
• Lack of ongoing updates
• Lack of pharmacist experience to discuss scenarios
• Lack of existing local working between services in primary care regarding contraception
• No clear strategy on how the service is practical in the running of a community pharmacy

NAWP would like to know more about what members think about the service – please share your thoughts by emailing [email protected].

Learn more: 

• Pharmacy Contraception Service
• NHS Pharmacy Contraception Service

Get involved

• Join NAWP’s Facebook group here.
• Follow NAWP on Instagram here.
• Use #PDAnawp on all social media platforms to post on issues relevant to women pharmacists and to suggest recommended reading for allies of the network.
• Join the WhatsApp group here.
• Contact the committee by emailing [email protected]
• About NAWP