The Fifth Pharmacy Business Conference entitled ‘Your Pharmacy, Your Future’ was held over two sessions on the evenings of Nov 24 and 26. The first session on Tuesday looked at NHS expectations around improved pharmacy efficiency and what the sector needed to change to remain relevant to its paymaster.
In his speech, Simon Dukes, chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, announced a range of regulatory dispensations his team had been seeking to give pharmacy teams the freedom they need to prioritise patient-facing services and shared his frustrations with government officials not doing enough to support the sector.
His remarks were followed by an insightful panel discussion which involved three outstanding community pharmacy contractors – Reena Barai, Mike Hewitson and Sunil Kochar – who took on challenging questions from the audience to highlight the need for the sector to differentiate itself from the likes of online pharmacies by adding value to patient outcomes in line with NHS expectations.
Our panellists also highlighted the need to upskill the workforce by embracing technology and putting an end to a ‘race to the bottom’ by making free service provisions in community pharmacy.
