The public awareness campaign for community pharmacy, 'Ask Your Pharmacist Week' this year will be on 31 October - 7 November, the National Pharmacy
Association (NPA) has announced.
Every year AYP Week is held across the UK, with an aim to raise awareness of pharmacy services and to prompt conversations with key stakeholders at a local
level about community pharmacy's role and benefits.
Activities in previous years have ranged from public exhibitions and window posters to social media campaigns, projects with patient groups and visits to pharmacies
from local dignitaries and politicians.
NPA Head of Communications, Stephen Fishwick, said, "AYP Week is an important fixture in the pharmacy calendar, as it creates a space for focused public awareness
activities to help customers, patients and stakeholders understand more fully the community pharmacy offer.
We want people to be more aware of long-standing and new NHS services plus the skills and expertise on offer in pharmacies across the UK. AYP also aims to cultivate
a richer dialogue with key stakeholders, which in England now includes leaders in Integrated Care Systems."
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has announced that Ask Your Pharmacist Week 2024 will be organised from 4-11 November across the UK.
This annual event aims to raise awareness of pharmacy services and to prompt conversations at a local level about community pharmacy's role and benefits, the NPA
said in a statement.
Ask Your Pharmacist Week encourages local engagement through various activities such as window displays, social media campaigns, pharmacy visits by community
dignitaries, presentations to local patient groups, radio phone-ins, and TV.
The week holds a significant place in the pharmacy calendar, as NPA describes "it creates a "platform for public awareness activities that help patients and
stakeholders understand more fully the community offers."
The NPA, which organises the campaign, emphasises the importance of making appropriate use of NHS services and increasing public awareness of the skills and
expertise available in pharmacies across the UK.