Supporting the evolving roles of pharmacy professionals

A message from Claire Nevinson, Superintendent Pharmacist

As you know, the UK healthcare landscape is changing at pace as a result of increasing demand and relentless innovation. People are living longer but potentially in poorer health, with more long-term conditions and more complex healthcare needs. Upcoming healthcare innovations will enable us to understand how our genetics impact our risk of developing certain diseases and how our bodies respond and react to the drugs used in their treatment. Increasingly, we are seeing exciting new opportunities in diagnostic testing as we focus on disease prevention and achieving and maintaining wellbeing.

All of these factors mean that healthcare commissioners need community pharmacy teams to use their skills optimally, and to develop them further, so that we can be even more accessible and impactful in caring for patients. Whilst no-one can predict the future, we are confident that the roles of community pharmacists and pharmacy technicians will become increasingly clinical and patient-centred, rather than task and process-focused. Pharmacy professionals will have more in-depth, patient-facing consultations and an increasing role in the clinical assessment and screening of patients. Our pharmacies will continue to deliver their core functions, such as the safe and effective supply of medicines. It is vital that we have robust processes and technology to make this safe and even more efficient, so that more time can be dedicated to meeting our patients’ needs. To enable this, we remain fully committed to ongoing process innovation.

The changing healthcare landscape and increasing role that pharmacy teams play in healthcare systems mean that pharmacy professionals need to maintain and grow their knowledge and skills more than ever, and continuing professional development is fundamental to the delivery of exceptional person-centred care to every patient and customer. Over the coming weeks, you’ll learn more about how the roles of our pharmacy professionals are expected to evolve and how we will be supporting the ongoing learning and professional development that will be required. We’ll provide tailored guidance on any regulatory changes that will impact these roles and help you understand what this means for your role at Boots. We’ll support you with ongoing continuing professional development and signpost you to trusted resources to help you as your roles expand, including support with any clinical skills you might need. Of course, any such change can create feelings of uncertainty. These are natural and to be expected. I encourage you to engage fully with the support provided and welcome the increased professional fulfilment that these changes will provide.