"If we stand still, we will die. We have to keep moving, and we have to keep changing" said Patrick Gompels, co-owner of Gompels Limited, while emphasising
the need for innovation in community pharmacy services, during the recent Pharmacy Business Conference 2024.
Centered on the theme 'Pharmacy of Tomorrow,' the conference, held at the Hilton Wembley on April 28, focused on adopting and adapting innovative technology as
well as new ways of working and thinking to enhance patient services.
Patrick was joined by Mayank Patel of Pearl Chemist Group and Michael Lennox, CEO of Community Pharmacy Somerset (LPC), during the panel discussion on innovation
in community pharmacy services, moderated by Reena Barai, pharmacist and owner of S G Barai Pharmacy.
On the changes he made at Gompels, Patrick said: "The first thing we did was a complete overhaul of all of our systems. Pretty much everything was stripped down."
He shared that Gompels has embraced innovation by partnering with forward-thinking companies like Titan PMR, Drug Comparison, and Real World Analytics to enhance
their processes and data analysis capabilities.
The 14th Community Pharmacy Conference by Sigma Pharmaceuticals has been timely, prime minister Rishi Sunak said, noting that it coincided with the launch
of Pharmacy First, a new initiative that enables patients to receive treatments for seven common conditions directly from a pharmacist without the need for a GP
appointment or prescription.
"We are all grateful for the tremendous contributions that pharmacists make to our NHS. The fantastic work you do is critical to the success of Pharmacy First and
many other initiatives," Sunak said in a written message.
The conference was organised from 25-29 February at Sun City in Johannesburg, South Africa, under the theme 'community pharmacy in an integrated NHS'.
In a recorded video address to the Sigma Conference, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said community pharmacies are 'critical' to the Labour party's mission to
make the NHS 'fit for the future'.
"You should be playing a much more significant role. Labour's reform agenda will get pharmacists working to the top of their licence. We want community pharmacists
to play a greater role in healthcare, with more focus on their expertise in prescribing and medicines management," he said.
Despite the challenges confronting pharmacy owners and their teams today, many in the industry hold the belief that the future for community pharmacy is
promising.
In a poll conducted at the beginning of the Pharmacy Business Conference 2024, 58 per cent of participants agreed that the future of community pharmacy is
positive, with 13 per cent expressing strong agreement.
However, 27 per cent expressed disagreement, with 3 per cent strongly disagreeing that the sector's future is optimistic.
By the end of the conference, a higher percentage of individuals (67 per cent) showed a positive outlook for community pharmacy, with over half indicating
strong agreement with its positivity. The number of participants who disagreed with it decreased to 11 percent.
Women accounted for 62 per cent of GPhC registrants in 2019, according to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Despite representing the majority of pharmacists
in the UK, only 2 per cent of women are pharmacy business owners compared with 13 per cent of men. Also, the majority of senior pharmacy leadership positions are
held by men, with research showing that only 36 per cent of senior pharmacy leaders are women.
Sobha Sharma Kandel, superintendent pharmacist and co-owner of Neem Tree Pharmacy, Abbey Wood, London, quoted these statistics while shedding light on the
representation of female leaders in the field of pharmacy.
So, what is stopping women from reaching leadership positions in the profession? According to Sobha, the barriers hindering female pharmacists from attaining
leadership positions include:
Gender Bias and Stereotypes
Lack of Representation and Role Models
Glass Ceiling and Double Standards
Work-Life Balance Challenges
Imposter Syndrome
Unequal Access to Opportunities
Negotiation and Advocacy Challenges
"There also continue to be gender and ethnicity pay gaps affecting women in pharmacy," said Sobha, who has been advocating for women in pharmacy by being a part
of the Female Pharmacy Leaders Network.
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Pharmacy owners discussed the key concerns and priorities for the future at the Community Pharmacy England's (CPE) digital briefing event held last
week (on 7 May 2024).
More than 500 pharmacy owners and their representatives registered for the event, which provided them an opportunity to learn more about the committee's work
in key areas and share their views on important issues.
Major concerns raised by them included underfunding, dispensing at a loss, and challenges in implementing Pharmacy First.
Attendees described the new service as "slow", "challenging" and "underfunded", while also highlighting the importance of improving GPs' understanding of the service.