RPS – English Pharmacy Board 2022 candidate responses on key topics

If elected to the English Pharmacy Board, I will ensure the RPS will work alongside other pharmacy associations like the PDA to ensure pharmacists in all sectors- academia, community, hospital, general practice and industry are supported with training like Independent Prescribing(IP) and continuing professional development tools and other support in their practice to be able to deliver the highest level of patient care.

As pharmacists of the future are expected to deliver even more clinical services to the public, I will encourage the RPS to discuss and support PDA initiatives like the PDA “Road Map” and “Wider Than Medicines”.

With the RPS’ recent launch of “Transforming the future of pharmacy practice” in England; “Pharmacy 2030: A Professional Vision” in Scotland and “Pharmacy: Delivering A Healthier Wales” in Wales, these are exciting times to be part of the RPS Boards deciding on strategies in the three nations for excellence in pharmacy practice across all sectors of Pharmacy.

I think we are currently experiencing a pivotal and exciting time in pharmacy. There are more opportunities than ever before and we are working, I believe, in the most diverse way we have in our profession’s history. With opportunity also comes risk and I think that to ensure we remain on an upward trajectory we must ensure we invest heavily in training and education for all.

I see pharmacy as a profession continuing to develop to a valued part of the health service across all sectors and across all levels of seniority. We must become a profession who strongly values and advocates for itself and its development.

‘Wherever there is a medicine, there should a pharmacist be’ 

We pharmacists are the experts on medicines – not Doctors, not Nurses, not Dentists – Pharmacists. This has been my mantra since first elected onto the EPB, which thankfully is gaining traction. The introduction of services such as NMS, access to the SCR and the GP referral to CPCS have been important stages on our journey of recognition.

Enlarging the number of Pharmacist Independent prescribers is a next step, as is full interoperability of GP and Pharmacy systems, with read/write access for pharmacists into their patient records. We need to continue to integrate community pharmacists into the primary care MDT and to be recognised as key members of the team.

Service provision, better utilising our clinical skills is our future, moving away from the current supply based model which is no longer fit for purpose. All pharmacists must be prescriber ready, thus enlarging the prescriber base, supporting the already overstretched NHS and improving patient care.

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I am personally very vocal about Pharmacists being undersold, and not really used to our full capacity. I have been able to really position Pharmacists as experts within our current organisation and hope to do much wider work in the future. I think the key to this is really influencing those that are decision-makers in healthcare. We need to demonstrate we have as much value as all of the other healthcare professionals by stretching out of our comfort zone and showing what we are actually capable of.

We have cause to be optimistic about the future of pharmacy but there are structural and strategic obstacles to overcome. The funding crisis in community pharmacy must be addressed to avoid a further erosion of standards, worsening safety and increasing pressure. Workforce transformation must be handled deftly as we progress to a more clinical future.

The recently announced partnership between the RPS and the Kings Fund to develop a 10 year vision for pharmacy in England is promising. Particularly if England can gain the same support from government as the Welsh (2018) and Scottish (2021) strategies.

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• Community pharmacies have patient lists as the basis for remuneration
• Full read/write access to patient records
• A full suite of clinical services commissioned, including a mix of both acute/low acuity illnesses along with long term condition prescribing and monitoring
• Community pharmacy treated by commissioners as essential providers of local healthcare, and supported as such. This would include supporting the development of the community pharmacy workforce in a way which ensured adequate levels of recruitment and retention
• Community pharmacy integrated into local ‘place based pharmacy leadership groups’ along with PCNs, secondary care and commissioning medicines optimisation teams

The RPS President recently issued a statement on the importance of all pharmacists being offered AND taking appropriate rest breaks. Rest breaks by pharmacists, both mental and physical, is a crucial part of ensuring pharmacists practice safely and ensure patient safety. I would encourage the RPS to work with the GPhC to ensure pharmacists’ rest breaks are uninterrupted, enforced and recorded with the responsibility lying with the employer  to ensure they are taken.

Adequate staffing including appropriately qualified and trained staff is important in ensuring pharmacies are safe so if elected I will work with the RPS to ensure minimum staff levels and expertise are encouraged and monitored. In community and hospital settings this will minimize self-checking of prescriptions.

Pharmacists present in pharmacies and having their professional judgement respected is also important for safer pharmacies.

I will absolutely be advocating for the RPS support of the safer pharmacies charter. Many of the issues discussed in the charter have personally affected myself and my staff daily in some of my roles. Many pharmacists I have spoken to in recent years have been continually put in situations where they do not feel confident in the safety of the service they are providing, often due to understaffing, which leads to self-checking, high rates of stress and error and an overall less safe service for our patients. Pharmacists should also be entitled to and take breaks for their own mental health and for the overall safety of the pharmacy. By over working our pharmacists and undervaluing our profession we will create an environment that staff do not want to continue to work in, and patients will not feel safe and confident in accessing.

This is a very exciting time for pharmacists, and we should be discussing how we can be innovative and driving quality improvement. These positive changes cannot happen if our staff feel as though they are treading water just to survive their working day. All pharmacists have a right to feel they are providing and involved in a safe and effective service, and all patients have the right to access safe healthcare. I have personally lost colleagues to other professions as they felt this was something they had been unable to achieve in their workplace, and it is truly devastating that we are unnecessarily loosing valued pharmacists.

Having the RPS publicly and strongly support this charter and encourage all employers to work towards these steps is an essential part of the near future if we wish to cultivate a positive working environment that professionals feel proud to contribute to.

Yes!
The 7 commitments in the Safer Pharmacies Charter are:
– No self checking
– Safe staffing
– Access to a pharmacist
– Adequate rest
– Respect for Professional Judgement
– Raising Concerns
– Physically safe

The RPS sets the Gold standard for professional practice, NOT the minimum.  The above 7 commitments should be a given for all practicing pharmacists, and embedded in the RPS Code of Practice

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Safe pharmacies underpin patient safety and decent working conditions. The PDA’s Safer Pharmacies Charter shares ambitions with the RPS’ Workforce Wellbeing campaign. If elected I will seek to understand why it has not been formally supported.

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The RPS has an important role in providing the public with confidence in the quality of pharmacy services in all sectors and I would, if elected, seek to ensure the EPB did everything in its power to direct the organisation to ensure its public and professional facing communications focussed on safety as a priority.

As the safer pharmacies charter has been in existence for a number of years yet, and the RPS has not yet (presumably) supported the charter then I would be seeking to understand why not. If there were valid reasons for this then I would expect that the RPS would have a robust alternative plan to address the issues experienced by many of its members on a daily basis.

I am therefore committed to ensuring the RPS opposes remote supervision. The COVID-19 pandemic showed the general public the value of the pharmacy network with pharmacists present open for a variety of convenient hours including early mornings, late nights and weekends.

Pharmacists present in pharmacies were able to help patients and customers unable to access GP and other services and this should be promoted as our strength.

Remote supervision will devalue the pharmacy profession and will lead to a reduction in patient safety. Pharmacy currently has a very good patient safety record and pharmacists present in the pharmacy contributes towards this.

The RPS has previously clarified it opposes remote supervision except in “exceptional circumstances”. If elected,I will ensure the RPS position is made very clear in that it definitely opposes remote supervision and each pharmacy premises should have a Responsible Pharmacist(RP) to ensure safe and effective supply of medicines to patients.

I do not agree that introducing remote supervision would be a positive step for our profession. I think there can be many nuanced conversations around this topic however I believe there are many points that would make it unrealistic and even unsafe for most working pharmacies.

In particular I worry for equal access for patients. Patients should be able to enter a pharmacy and talk to their pharmacist for help and advice, this is something that holds great value in the community for both us and our patients. We have more opportunities to make meaningful interventions and to build trusting relationships. If our pharmacists weren’t present how would this look? Remote online consultations? Many patients may either choose to not interact in this manner, or this may not be accessible to them if they do not have internet access, smart devices or disabilities that make online interaction difficult.

I also feel we also would see a reduction in successful team building and interprofessional relationships. Many staff members in the pharmacy will utilize the pharmacist for queries, help and support. If the pharmacist is not physically present this adds a layer of difficulty and separation that can only negatively impact the team and patient safety. Overall, I can strongly commit to opposing the introduction of remote supervision.

Yes! 

Supervision is embedded in legislation, but the regulator (GPhC) has an important role to play in the interpretation of such regulation. Supervision has changed over the last few decades, from a pharmacist having to personally acknowledge the sale of every P medicine, to now being in a position to intervene if necessary, but with the Pharmacy assistants empowered and trained to conduct such transactions, whilst the Pharmacist is present in the Pharmacy.

One of the biggest strengths of Pharmacy has been the accessibility, availability and approachability of the community pharmacist. We jeopardise that at our peril. However we must make full use of our highly trained and competent healthcare teams, from healthcare assistants and dispensers to Pharm Techs and Accredited Checking Technicians to enable us to provide the services of the future.

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I oppose remote supervision.

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This legislative change must be done the right way though, and must absolutely not lead to a compromise of the professional influence in the supply of medicines or delivery of services. Any change must safeguard against short term cost cutting attempts by employers and be done in a way which safeguards the public and does not lead to an erosion of quality. As always, the devil will be in the detail so I would expect the RPS to be very strongly influencing this.

Remote supervisor isn’t a substitute for having a pharmacist In supervision.

The COVID-19 vaccination programme which utilised community pharmacies as a vaccination hub further highlighted the role of pharmacies as healthcare settings like GP surgeries. If elected to the EPB, I will ensure the RPS work with key stakeholders in the healthcare sector including NHS bodies to ensure there is adequate funding to provide more clinical services from community pharmacies which are appropriately remunerated.

There is no reason why, in 2022, community pharmacies that want to cannot, after appropriate training, provide antibiotics for minor infections like urinary tract infections and ear infections. Service provision like this will further enhance the view of community pharmacies as healthcare settings.

The RPS can be encouraged to enhance the public perception of community pharmacies as healthcare settings through public messages and communication via other pharmacy bodies. ”Ask Your Pharmacist” and other previous successful public campaigns can be refreshed and enhanced to remind the public of value of community pharmacies.

I have worked within many community pharmacies and absolutely agree they are a healthcare setting; I believe there is sometimes some misunderstandings both from patients and from pharmacists who work in other settings on the role and value of community pharmacy. I believe the RPS can contribute towards promoting this through the support of new community-based services and public awareness campaigns.

There has been some fantastic service development in community in the past few years including pilot services like atrial fibrillation screening, GP2P and travel vaccination hubs. It would be fantastic to see more vocal and public praise for the positive strides community pharmacy is making. I also think the RPS should advocate for and ensure equality for community pharmacists accessing training and development.

Community Pharmacies ARE Healthcare settings, as evidenced by the Healthy Living Pharmacies requirement of PQS, supported by Healthy Living Champions. Likewise providing Influenza and COVID vaccination services, other vaccinations such as Travel and Pneumonia, the new Hypertension service, Drug user services, Sexual health services, and in many Pharmacies, other private services such as weight management.

Public Health campaigns are supported in Pharmacy and the accessibility to the public cannot be undervalued. The RPS produces the Medicines, Ethics and Practice guide, the BNF, Medicines Complete and produces guidelines for Standards in Hospital and Community Pharmacy. The RPS must continue to publish these and provide support for the highest standards of practice. The RPS professional support helpline is of huge value to practicing pharmacists helping deal with often complex queries in frontline pharmacy.

The RPS meets regularly with the decision makers and legislators, and it is vital that the role of Pharmacy and the valuable place it has in frontline healthcare is reinforced and highlighted on these occasions. The RPS is an important mouthpiece for the Pharmacy Profession, and working alongside bodies such as the PDAU, helps to raise the profile of Pharmacy.

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Pharmacies are healthcare settings. I expect pharmacies to continue to become more like high street clinics offering evidence based interventions and moving away from homeopathy and hocus pocus. The RPS has a role to play in providing the vision, leadership and advocacy for the profession but some contractors and employers need to change behaviours to shed their ‘shampoo and sandwiches’ reputation.

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I think the RPS has an important role in both highlighting this as an issue to commissioners, but also providing support in managing it – highlighting areas of best practice, advocating at national level for providers to be held to account etc.

The RPS should put more efforts in ensuring the skills and competencies of pharmacists are known , used and appreciated within all healthcare delivery systems, the presence of pharmacists within the GP, the independent prescribers , the advanced pharmacists clinicians are all setting pace for pharmacists future.

However it is very important the RPS continues and increases its collaboration with other professional associations like the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK(APTUK) as Pharmacy Technicians are an important and integral part of Pharmacy Teams in various sectors of Pharmacy practice.

If elected, I will ensure the RPS balance the enhancement of its membership benefits to its current membership populations while sharing ideas and collaborating with APTUK and other bodies representing other pharmacy staff. This will include sharing expertise on education, CPD, joint  events all for the purpose of ensuring a united front for pharmacy for two separate professional bodies.

The RPS mission is to put PHARMACY at the forefront of healthcare and it can only do this by working with representatives of the Pharmacy Teams.

The RPS vision is to become the world leader in the safe and effective use of medicines and working with APTUK representing Pharmacy Technicians(PT) including Accredited Checking Technicians (ACT) PT’s helps it to achieve this.

In my opinion we should take pride in being a pharmacy profession and not just a pharmacist profession. That means working in collaboration and inclusion with all our colleagues who work within the profession and that includes pharmacy technicians. Pharmacy technicians are registered health care professionals and have been taking on more responsibility within pharmacy.

There has been many discussions around pharmacy technicians being able to train in vaccine administration and other essential services. I understand the importance of having a society that represents us as pharmacists but would personally have no issue and think there would actually be many benefits in including pharmacy technicians more in our collaborative working including opinions on policy change, education and training and access to resources.

Yes, full membership of the RPS should only be for fully qualified Pharmacists, with full voting rights, as per the criteria set out in the RPS Royal Charter.

However, I would be open to exploring ASSOCIATE membership for other categories, as per that followed by other Professional bodies. As well as being an important revenue stream, it could facilitate closer working with bodies such as APTUK.

Equally we must embrace affiliate pharmacy bodies and continue to pursue our ambition to become members of AoMRC, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. As I say in my election statement, the RPS MUST be relevant, recognised and inclusive.

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The Royal Pharmaceutical Society speaks for the pharmacy profession, with its mission to put pharmacy at the forefront of healthcare and vision to become the world leader in safe and effective use of medicines. Furthermore there are four objects in our Royal Charter:

• Safeguard, maintain the honour, and promote the interests of pharmacists in their exercise of the profession of pharmacy.
• Advance knowledge of, and education in, pharmacy and its application, thereby fostering good science and practice.
• Promote and protect the health and well-being of the public through the professional leadership and development of the pharmacy profession.
• Maintain and develop the science and practice of pharmacy in its contribution to the health and well-being of the public.

Any change to membership does not change the charter.

I do not see a need or an appetite for any change in membership but if elected, would seek to understand. I believe in listening to members. I categorically oppose removing any of the existing membership groups.

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