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The fusion of the unique in-depth understanding of medicines by pharmacists together with the competence to prescribe offers will improve access to care and increase capacity in the health system, said the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Director for England Ravi Sharma to Parliament at the Health and Social Care Select Committee's inquiry on workforce on Monday (May 23). However, he also stated that a new workforce strategy must support and harness the skills of pharmacist independent prescribers in clinical care with investment in training, both for new and existing workforce; access to supervisors; protected learning and development time; and commissioning of services to make best use of independent prescribers across care settings, supported by appropriate prescribing budgets in community pharmacy. "We're about to see new generation of pharmacists independent prescribers that will make a huge difference to the clinical role of pharmacists to support patient care, but this must be underpinned by protected learning time and a more ambitious approach to commissioning new services to use their skills," Ravi said. He spoke to MPs in Parliament at the Health and Social Care Select Committee's inquiry on workforce, highlighting the vital contribution of pharmacy teams during the pandemic and called for action to support the current and future workforce. Some of the key issues highlighted in the parliament included, the risk of burnout and the need to help boost staff retention; staff wellbeing, including a zero tolerance of abuse from the public; the importance of professional development and protected learning time to enhance patient care and support rewarding careers; the potential of new pharmacist independent prescribers and the need for investment in the current workforce and the need for better workforce data and a pharmacy workforce strategy.

As the countdown to the next UK election begins, the King's Fund has identified three priorities to improve public health. The national action would be taken by the future government to fix the "NHS and social care" in the country. The health policy think tank said it would prioritise "improving access to out-of-hospital care", making "careers in health and social care" more attractive and tackling the biggest risk factors affecting people's health. It highlighted that workforce crisis is one of the biggest challenges faced by the National Health Service (NHS) and social care services in England while citing "years of poor planning and fragmented responsibilities" as the reason for widespread staff shortages. As per the King's Fund's data, there were more than 125,000 vacancies across the NHS workforce in England in October 2023, not including primary care vacancies such as GPs, and 152,000 vacant posts in the adult social care workforce.

Laura Wilson, Director of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in Scotland discussed the future of the pharmacy workforce with Michael Matheson, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care at the SNP conference. The event, which took place on 17 October in Aberdeen, Scotland featured other health officials including Colin Poolman, Director of the Royal College of Nursing; Kenryck Lloyd-Jones, Public Affairs and Policy Manager for Scotland, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy; and Chris Marshall, Deputy Editor at Holyrood Communications. The Scottish government has recently unveiled its national workforce strategy for health and social care, laying out its plans for achieving recovery, growth, and transformation. Wilson highlighted the challenges and opportunities for the pharmacy workforce in Scotland to attract potential pharmacists into the profession and encourage them to stay within the profession. "This was a great opportunity to discuss with the Cabinet Secretary the challenges which exist for the pharmacy workforce in Scotland and to highlight some of the solutions which need to be implemented to ensure a pharmacy workforce in Scotland which is fit for the future," she said.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has called for improved workforce planning to be undertaken by the government and NHS. However, for this to happen, it added, "high quality workforce data for community pharmacy needs to be available." For this reason, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England and PSNC have agreed that it will be a Terms of Service requirement for contractors to complete the annual Health Education England (HEE) community pharmacy workforce survey, which will then provide a full picture of the community pharmacy workforce, including identifying the number of vacancies and regions where these are particularly hard to fill. PSNC said: "It is acutely aware of the challenges that contractors and their teams are currently facing, so in recognition of the workload associated with completing the annual workforce survey, we have negotiated with DHSC and NHS England that the requirement to undertake an annual patient satisfaction survey will be removed from the Terms of Service from 1st October 2022." This means that contractual requirement will no longer apply to contractors in 2022/23 and going forward.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has informed the Welsh Parliament about the workforce crisis in the pharmacy sector and the need to prioritise staff well-being and training requirements to help Covid recovery plans. Providing evidence to the Senedd's Health and Social Care Committee's inquiry into waiting times, the RPS director in Wales Elen Jones emphasised that the pandemic brought the pharmacy workforce under immense pressure. She emphasised on "the need for workforce planning that allows pharmacists enough time to learn, teach and embed new skills," which would help in maintaining a motivated and sustainable workforce. Jones presented the evidence alongside colleagues from the Royal College of General Practitioners, Community Pharmacy Wales and the Royal College of Nursing.

Highlighting the growing workforce challenges in the UK, a new report has indicated that nearly one in five (18 per cent) flexible health and care sector workers, engaged in agency work through private providers, might leave the sector in the next two years. With tens of thousands of flexible staff working within the sector every week, providing care for thousands of people, the report cautioned that failure to address their concerns could result in poor system performance and patient experience. The report is based on views drawn from over 10,000 flexible health and social care professionals, including a significant number of those working in pharmacy, gathered by strategic workforce partners Acacium Group. According to the report, 24 per cent of workers surveyed reported feeling overstretched by their workload, contributing to burnout and dissatisfaction. Concerns about working conditions and the level of support from management were cited as key reasons why some healthcare professionals are considering leaving the sector.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced on Monday (November 22) that it would integrate NHS Digital, NHSX and Health Education England into NHS England and Improvement (NHSE&I) as part of major workforce planning and technology reforms. The merger is part of the government's long-term strategy for the recruitment, training and retention of healthcare staff coupled with a digital transformation of working practices. The overhaul is based on recommendations made by NHS Digital chair Laura Wade-Gery who led a government-commissioned review to improve patient care, centralise the NHS workforce and accelerate digital delivery. Commenting on her recommendations, Wade-Gery, said: "In the rest of our lives, digital has really changed how we live and we must now make this true in healthcare. The goal of my review is to equip the national centre with the right capability to support Integrated Care Systems to deliver better citizen health. We need to have the culture, operating model, skills, capabilities and processes to put data, digital and technology at the heart of how we transform health services."

The government has earmarked £200 million to enhance NHS resilience and expedite patient care during the upcoming winter season. This extra amount will bolster the health service during its busiest period, while protecting elective care so we can keep cutting waiting lists, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said. On August 13, the Prime Minister and Health and Social Care Secretary met with clinical leaders and NHS Chiefs to strategise and refine planning for urgent and emergency care, while prioritising the preservation of waiting list targets for the upcoming winter season. "Patients can be reassured that I will always back the NHS, so that those who most need help and support will get the care they need," Sunak said. "Winter is the most challenging time for the health service, which is why we've been planning for it all year - with huge government investment to fund new ambulances, beds and virtual wards." "This £200 million investment, assured by the Department of Health and Social Care as new and additional funding, should aid NHS leaders in their preparations and mitigation for what will be a seriously difficult winter period," said Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of NHS Confederation. "The priority now is swift allocation of funding to local systems for optimal utilisation."

Pharmacy bodies have welcomed the new minister in charge of the profession amid warnings that he will find the sector in a state that is "more fragile that ever" due to "untenable funding and workforce pressures". Neil O'Brien was re-appointed as parliamentary under secretary of state in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on October 25 and was later assigned the pharmacy brief. The Conservative MP for Harborough - who will have a wide-ranging portfolio of responsibilities, including primary care and pharmacy - has taken over the position from Will Quince MP, who had a brief stint as pharmacy minister but remains at the department on a different role. O'Brien was was handed a junior minister's job at DHSC on 7 September 2022 in the government led by Liz Truss but fellow Conservative Quince was assigned primary care duties including pharmacy. Welcoming him to his new role, The Company Chemists' Association said that the minister would find that the community pharmacy sector was "more fragile than ever" with untenable pressures over funding and workforce.

Boris Johnson has picked Steve Barclay as the new health secretary following the resignation of Sajid Javid, who stepped down on July 5 after saying he had lost faith in prime minister's leadership. Barclay - who had served as chief of staff of the prime minister since February 2022 - was previously a junior health minister in 2018, responsible for NHS workforce and finance, before serving as Brexit secretary, chief secretary to the Treasury, and chancellor of the duchy. He is the fourth health secretary after Jeremy Hunt, Matt Hancock and Sajid Javid in the past five years. In a statement on his appointment, Barclay said it was "an honour" to be take up the position, adding: "Our NHS and social care staff have showed us time and again - throughout the pandemic and beyond - what it means to work with compassion and dedication to transform lives. "This government is investing more than ever before in our NHS and care services to beat the Covid-19 backlogs, recruit 50,000 more nurses, reform social care and ensure patients across the country can access the care they need."

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Director for Scotland Clare Morrison participated in the panel discussion alongside representatives from other health professional organisations on tackling the workforce crisis at the SNP conference in Aberdeen on 8 October. At the conference, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care committed to achieving protected learning time for health professionals. Morrison welcomed the Cabinet Secretary's statement as fantastic news for pharmacists across Scotland. "RPS Scotland will follow up the discussion by writing to the Cabinet Secretary to request a meeting to discuss achieving protected learning time, the forthcoming results of our workforce wellbeing survey, and positive examples of how pharmacy teams have improved the well-being of their teams," said the society.

The pharmacy inquiry will explore issues impacting different types of pharmacy, with a particular focus on community, primary care and hospital pharmacy services. It will also consider current challenges around funding, workforce and the digital infrastructure. Planned developments within the profession will enable future pharmacists to be independent prescribers from day one of registration, giving them a greater role within primary care teams. Health and Social Care Committee Chair Steve Brine MP said: "It is clear that pharmacy has a central role to play in the future of the NHS. With a greater focus on personalised and patient-centred healthcare, we will be asking what more must be done to make sure that the profession is in the best shape to meet demand. "Better use of the pharmacy workforce would reduce pressures on general practice and hospitals. However, this will not happen without a planned workforce with the funding, supervision and training to support it. "At the end of the inquiry, the committee will be making recommendations to the government on what action needs to be taken to ensure the potential of pharmacy is realised.

The government's 200 million dental recovery plan has come under fierce criticism from the opposition party after health minister Dame Andrea Leadsom admitted that there is a "high likelihood" that it will not deliver 2.5 million dental appointments. Published last month, the plan is aimed at ensuring easier and faster access to NHS dental care across England, with up to 1.5 million extra treatments expected to be delivered over the next 12 months. Various new measures were set out to attract new dentists, including increasing dental training places by up to 40 per cent by 2032, as part of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. On Tuesday, Leadsom told MPs on the Health and Social Care Committee that the figure was based on NHS modelling of a "complicated set of factors" and there is "quite a high likelihood of not being reliable as is the case with all modelling." Preeti Kaur Gill MP, shadow minister for primary care and public health, expressed shock over the admission by the public health minister that there is uncertainty regarding the plan's ability to deliver on its promises, which she said: "shows the Conservatives are out of ideas and out of time."

The Professional Pharmacists Association (PDA) has demanded efforts to secure greater support and recognition for community pharmacists from governmental bodies. In its written evidence provided to the Health and Social Care select committee's pharmacy inquiry, the PDA raised concerns about the well-being of pharmacists, specifically for those who belong to minority ethnic groups and race and are subjected to bullying, harassment, and ill-treatment. The association highlighted issues in the workplace that impact pharmacists' health and well-being, including chronic understaffing, sub-standard working environments, an absence of protected training time, and experiences of racism, violence, and abuse. Parallel to the PDA's advocacy, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) is intensifying calls for prioritising workforce wellbeing within the pharmacy domain. Stressing the pivotal role of workforce retention in addressing current challenges, RPS emphasises the need for robust support mechanisms and equitable access to mental health services.

The Department of Health (DoH) in Northern Ireland has published a new Strategic Plan for Community Pharmacy, highlighting the vision and key priorities for the sector over the next 10 years. Co-developed by the DoH and Community Pharmacy Northern Ireland (CPNI), the representative body for community pharmacy owners, the plan aims to fully realise the potential of community pharmacy services to support better health outcomes from medicines and prevent illness. The vision outlined in the plan sees community pharmacies offering more clinical services, leveraging the skills of their teams to provide the public with safe, convenient, and faster access to care. According to DOH, the vision will be realised through four major reform programmes focusing on services, legislation, workforce, and digital enablers, alongside six strategic priorities. Together, these initiatives are anticipated to transform the role of community pharmacy within the Health and Social Care (HSC). Health Minister Robin Swann has extended his support to the new Community Pharmacy Strategic Plan, which builds on the previously agreed 3-year community pharmacy commissioning plan.

The Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) has announced the appointment of six specialists to scrutinise the government's progress made on its commitments to pharmacy services in England on Wednesday (26 April). "They will work alongside the core members of the Expert Panel to produce a report evaluating Government progress across nine of the Government's own commitments across the four areas. A CQC-style rating from "inadequate" to "outstanding" will be awarded against each specific pledge with a final overall rating given," said DHSC. Professor Dame Jane Dacre, Chair of the Expert Panel, said: "The role of pharmacy in delivering care whether in hospital, the community or primary care has never been more important. "The Government has made a number of commitments aimed at improving pharmacy services and we'll be looking at the progress to achieve these targets. "In the process of our evaluation we'll be hearing from stakeholders from across the industry, including the pharmacy workforce and NHS and independent providers of pharmacy services. We'll be considering pledges covering frontline services as well as the education and training of the workforce." National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chief executive, Mark Lyonette, is one of six panel members with specialist expertise in pharmacy. They will work alongside five standing members who are all renowned healthcare policy experts and professionals. Professor Dame Jane Dacre will chair.

MP Steve Brine, the chair of the health and care committee, said that the healthcare in the UK "doesn't work without pharmacy". The inquiry focuses on addressing current issues, particularly around the "funding model, digital infrastructure and workforce recruitment, training and retention." Brine said at the Sigma annual conference on Sunday, that he wants to "focus on the sector", and "drill down into some of the challenges and potential" that lies ahead. "The Health and Social Care Committee, we think about much of our work through the lens of pharmacy, what role it plays, the quality of care that it delivers, and the potential for it to do more," said Brine. He further said that he wants to "build on the groundwork" and to "cover as many of the different pharmacy services within the pharmacy sector as we can, so pharmacy in our communities, in hospitals and general practice".

Community Pharmacy England has submitted a full and detailed written response to the Health and Social Care Select Committee's pharmacy inquiry. The Committee is expected to hold oral evidence sessions when Parliament returns in the Autumn. The commencement of this inquiry follows on from those held on other primary care sectors, including Dentistry and General Practice. According to the Committee website this inquiry 'will explore issues impacting different types of pharmacy, with a particular focus on community, primary care and hospital pharmacy services'. Key themes of CPE's submission include- Suggestions on future service provision; Challenges with the pharmacy workforce; Longstanding underfunding of the sector; and Current pressures. Janet Morrison OBE, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy England, said: "This is an extremely important opportunity for all who work with and in the Pharmacy sector, to highlight not only the extreme challenges we face, but also ideas and suggestions for what more we can do to help patients and the public in the future.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) made a recent announcement that the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (i.AI) and NHS England (NHSE) have joined forces in a groundbreaking move by signing a Collaboration Charter on AI. This pivotal partnership aims to equip the NHS workforce with the tools and resources to leverage AI technology for enhancing patient care, improving staff experience, and driving operational efficiency. The Charter, endorsed by Minister Burghart, Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, and Lord Markham, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the DHSC, signifies an important step towards integrating AI into the fabric of the NHS. Under this collaboration, the i.AI team, comprising elite technical experts within the government, will identify opportunities where AI technology can be deployed responsibly to support the NHS. This initiative is expected to streamline processes, optimize resource allocation, and ultimately enhance patient outcomes.

The Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has called the recent announcement of six per cent pay rise for the public sector workforce as 'unfair' for the community pharmacy sector. On Thursday (13 June), the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced that pay scales for most doctors and dentists will increase by at least a six per cent this year after the government accepted the recommendations from the independent pay review bodies in full. Responding to the recent announcement Chief Executive Janet Morrison, said: "The public sector workforce pay rise will be welcome news for its recipients given the huge inflationary pressures and the ongoing impact of the cost-of-living crisis. But for community pharmacy owners - who have faced 30% funding cuts in recent years and who are struggling to meet their rising wage costs - this feels unfair, and very far from good news. At Community Pharmacy England we are fully focused on the current financial and operational pressures and fighting hard for a sustainable long-term funding arrangement.