AI in pharmacy: friend, foe, or Future Assistant?

Published: 14 January 2025

Chair of the RPS Digital Pharmacy Expert Advisory Group

This was published when the organisation was the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

The pharmacy profession has undergone incredible transformations over the years. As a community pharmacist who’s seen everything from handwritten labels and the early introduction of electronic labelling systems during my pre-registration training, to today’s Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) and electronic clinical systems, I never thought I’d be writing about the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) in pharmacy so soon. Yet here we are, with the emergence of AI bringing new challenges and opportunities.

As a member of the Digital Pharmacy Expert Advisory Group, I’ve had the privilege, along with other colleagues, of helping to shape the RPS policy on AI in pharmacy. Spoiler alert: it’s not all robot pharmacists and virtual consultations.

Why we need an AI policy

The pharmacy world is changing faster than a patient can say “I just need my prescription.” AI is already here – from smart PMR systems that aim to automate the clinical focus of the pharmacist to inventory management tools that predict stock needs, to systems optimising the end-to-end workflows in dispensaries. But with this great power comes great responsibility (and a lot of regulatory considerations).

Key considerations in our AI policy

Central to the RPS’s policy are key considerations like patient safety, workforce impact, and ethical standards. For example, how do we ensure AI-powered tools enhance, rather than compromise the quality of care? How do we uphold patient confidentiality when AI systems handle sensitive data? And how do we support pharmacy teams to work alongside AI, ensuring they feel empowered, not replaced, by its capabilities?

Real-World Implementation

The use of AI in pharmacy is already transforming how we work. Tasks like prescription accuracy checking, clinical decision support and appointment scheduling are increasingly supported by AI.

In dispensaries, AI is supporting stock management, allowing pharmacists to spend less time on repetitive processes and more on direct patient care. AI can also analyse patient data and detect patterns.

This isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about offering a higher standard of patient care and helping healthcare professionals and patients make more informed decisions.

A future with AI

The future of pharmacy isn’t about replacing pharmacy teams with robots – it’s about empowering the workforce to provide better patient care through the understanding of and the use of smart technology. This policy aims to highlight the potential to harness AI in the workplace while maintaining our professional standards and ethical principles.

Want to know more? Take a look at the RPS AI policy, where you can explore our detailed recommendations and guidelines. Join the conversation and share your thoughts on how AI is changing your practice via [email protected]. AI is here to stay, and we need to ensure it works for us, our profession, and most importantly, our patients.

Pharmacy’s role in reducing health inequalities for people with a learning disability and autism

21 August 2025

This was published when the organisation was the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Listening and learning from people’s experiences At NHS England, people with lived experience of learning disability and autism work in co-production with healthcare professionals, including pharmacists. Learning from people’s personal experiences adds unique quality to our work. We are passionate about STOMP (Stopping the over medication of people with a learning disability and autism of all ages) and STAMP (Start appropriate medication in Paediatrics). We all need to work together so that people are only prescribed the right medication, for the right length of time and for the right reasons. We were both proud to present at the Action in Belonging, Culture and Diversity (ABCD) group. The group meets every two months with the aim of improving inclusivity across pharmacy services. Members talked about the benefits and impact of having a person with a learning disability present at the group. What opportunities are there in your role to listen to and respond to the views and experiences of people with lived experience? Aaron's personal experience of medication I became mentally unwell and was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. The doctor gave me 50mg Sertraline and 30mg Propranolol, said I may experience side effects and would review my medication in a year’s time. I had never taken any psychotropic medication before. I put on a lot of weight, had nightmares and became so unwell I was off work for four months. I made another doctor's appointment and explained how unwell I was feeling. The doctor took me off Sertraline and prescribed me 30mg Citalopram. I started feeling like myself again. There are things that the doctor should have done differently, but there are also things the pharmacy team could have done to help me understand and have the best experience of medication, including: Using plain English when talking, giving me written information and checking I have understood it; Asking me about other medication I am taking now or have taken in the past; Offering information about the medication prescribed and how to take it; Explaining any possible side effects, and what I should do if I experience any; Asking if I have difficulties swallowing; Explaining the best way to take the medication, for example, drink with water not fizzy drinks. Resources to improve inclusivity of pharmacy services Aaron’s experience is not unique. At NHS England, we often hear from people with a learning disability, autistic people and their families about the challenges they face when accessing health services. It is clear from Aaron’s experience that there is more that all pharmacy teams can do to improve care for people with a learning disability. Teams in community pharmacy, within primary care networks and in hospitals have their part to play. This includes: Understanding, recording and implementing reasonable adjustments to make access to pharmaceutical care more comfortable; Being STOMP and STAMP aware to educate people about psychotropic medications. Learn more about STOMP awareness and access STOMP training; Thinking about your communication style to ensure care is accessible and adjusted to the person. Find out more from the CPPE learning Disability Hub; Being learning disability aware: CPPE; Completing the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training in learning disability and autism awareness. Read more blogs.

On track for royal college

This article was published when the organisation was the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. This is my second blog with updates on our work to become ‘royal college-ready’. My last blog followed closely after an Assembly meeting at which details were discussed about the shape of the royal college and how it would be governed. This time I’m writing just ahead of a meeting where Assembly members will be fleshing out the final details on, among other issues, our inaugural royal college elections. What I hope this indicates is the progress we’ve made over the summer on developing the shape and structure of the new organisation. This ongoing work is taking place on a few different fronts. The first I’d like to talk about is appointments – of key roles within the staff, of expertise to the new Board of Trustees, and of our first cohort of elected members to the royal college and the new structures they will operate within. I was delighted last week to announce our new Chief Scientist, Professor Amira Guirguis, which followed the announcement in September of a new Director for Wales, Dr Geraldine McCaffrey who begins in her role in December. These hires show how we are ensuring we remain focused on our work across the nations and in areas of practice and research that are vital to the role we will play as a royal college. We are in the process of recruiting new Directors of Education, Pharmacy, Finance and Technology, and we have asked our Director of People to lead on our Shared Services portfolio, which will form a crucial link between the Royal College of Pharmacy charity and the subsidiary business, Pharmaceutical Press. We will announce our new appointments as they are filled and look forward to bringing the new team members on board. A vital aspect of our new governance is the creation of a Board of Trustees for the charity. This body ensures we have appropriate oversight and remain focused on our mission and charitable aims. It’s exciting to have begun our search for a ‘founding’ Chair of Trustees to lead this important work. We’re working with specialist recruiters Charity People to secure the right candidate. Sitting alongside the Board of Trustees in the governance structure will be the Senate and three national councils. Assembly will be discussing the elections process in detail when they meet this week. There will be much more to say on the elections as they approach and it’s something I will report on further. Ahead of this, however, is the task of putting in place the Regulations for the new organisation. We intend for this to be undertaken in two phases. In the first, we will publish the draft interim transition Regulations to enable elections to the new royal college structure and transfer the Pharmaceutical Press into a subsidiary company. In the second phase we will publish the draft full Regulations for the Royal College of Pharmacy, which will sit alongside the proposed new Royal Charter. We will be engaging with RPS members on these draft Regulations through the autumn and will share more detail after Assembly have met this week. All this activity puts in place the structures we need to deliver our future strategy as the Royal College of Pharmacy. The development of that strategy has been the third strand of work in preparing for our royal college transition, and a key focus of the last couple of months. I’m delighted that our first two online events, with pharmaceutical scientists and pharmacists working in industry, followed closely by a session with RPS members, were well attended and positive. The President and I also had the opportunity to join our Retired Pharmacist Group at their recent meeting and we know there is also a lot of interest amongst retired members in participating in the building of the new strategy. I’m grateful to everyone that has taken the time to contribute and support this work so far. We’re also holding a members and non-members online event on 23 October, and a student event, co-hosted with the BPSA, on 4 November. Your ideas will help shape the strategy of the new royal college, so I’d encourage anyone who hasn’t yet to sign up for one of our last two sessions. RPS members can also share their views via an all-member survey (now closed). This process of listening and engaging means our strategy development process is inclusive of the whole of pharmacy – vital for ensuring it serves the whole profession. We are building the strategy on our five commitments, as well as our pledge to RPS members about the kind of service we will provide throughout individuals’ careers. Patient safety will run as a ‘golden thread’ through all parts of the strategy. Meanwhile there’s plenty of other important activity that I might call ‘business as usual’. A particular highlight to mention is last week’s workforce summit, which took forward our work on assessment and credentialing. The focus for the meeting was developing and implementing an enhanced curriculum for newly qualified pharmacists, all of whom will be prescribers from next summer. The advent of all new pharmacists being independent prescribers represents a massive shift in healthcare – underlining again the importance of creating the Royal College of Pharmacy. In the context of seismic change to the pharmacy professions and healthcare as a whole, pharmacy needs a strong, unified voice, and professionals need support throughout their careers. It’s an excellent reminder of why the work to get ‘royal college ready’ is so important.