Pharmacy pressures highlighted in Welsh Senedd
Published: 3 October 2024
This news story was published when the organisation was the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
Members of the Senedd (MSs) have been hearing about the pressures community pharmacists and their teams are facing and the support required for the sector.
In a joint event by the RPS and Community Pharmacy Wales (CPW), MSs gathered over Tuesday lunchtime for a briefing on the state of community pharmacy in Wales – touching on both the tireless and high-quality work of community pharmacy teams and the various pressure points that are affecting the sector at present.
The discussions focused on the worrying trend of community pharmacy closures in Wales, with 26 shutting down since July 2020. This is coupled with feedback from both the RPS and CPW membership that pressures on the sector are also leading to both reduced opening and staffing hours. Other key issues raised included the need for protected learning time, challenges in securing vital medications, and the decline in real-time funding for the reimbursement of medicines.
Commenting on the briefing event, RPS Wales Director Elen Jones said:
“It was uplifting to hear strong support and appreciation from the politicians for community pharmacy, along with recognition of pharmacists’ expanding clinical and prescribing roles and the vital contribution this has made to the NHS in recent years.
“In our discussions, we emphasised our support to sustain and expand the clinical and prescribing roles of community pharmacists as set out in ‘Pharmacy; Delivering a Healthier Wales‘ and the contractual framework for community pharmacies in Wales; ‘Presgripsiwn Newydd/A New Prescription’. However, for this to occur, the concerns and pressures facing the sector must be heard and addressed.
“I’d like to thank CPW for joining us for this event and hope their upcoming discussions with the Welsh Government result in increased support for the community pharmacy sector. At RPS Wales, we will continue to raise important issues for our members at the Senedd, with our next quarterly briefing event scheduled for December due to focus on our upcoming report on medicines shortages.”
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