Group items tagged

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) England Chair Thorrun Govind has called for Government action to support pharmacy teams experiencing huge demand for their services. "Pharmacy teams are under immense pressure at the moment, in common with other NHS services, and working extremely hard with health service colleagues to provide the right care for patients," said Govind. "As winter pressures mount, pharmacies see increased numbers of patients seeking support with illness and also because they have heard other areas of the health service are struggling to cope. The society has also stated staffing pressures, alongside an increase in workload has created an extra burden which takes a toll on the wellbeing of pharmacy teams. Govind added: "Issues such as medicine shortages can also take up many hours of time for pharmacy teams tracking down medicines when they could be directly helping patients. In community pharmacies, rising costs and fairly static funding are adding to business pressures. "However, pharmacies remain the most accessible part of the health service and provide expert advice to patients without the need for an appointment and are open long hours and at weekends."