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Many pharmacists will have experienced the past twelve months as their toughest ever year. It has certainly been my own darkest hour as a pharmacy owner.

Fees for those bringing employment tribunal claims have been ruled unlawful, and the government will now have to repay up to £32m to claimants.

Welcome to the first in a new series of blogs - Independent Pharmacists Thinking Aloud.  The views in these blogs do not necessarily reflect those of the NPA.

Building on the success of last year’s conference activity, the NPA will have a stand at each of the major political party’s conferences in the coming weeks.

‘There are two paths the sector can go down. One involves mass automation, centralised dispensing and pharmacists working predominantly from GP practices or remotely. The other sees community pharmacies better integrated with other services, operating efficiently as neighbourhood health and wellbeing centres and being a front door to the NHS. This second path is the only path built on solid…

‘Our premises are conveniently located health & social care assets in neighbourhoods across the country.  Our skilled people have the capability to do so much more if liberated to do so.’

'Pharmacies must be progressive and modern, while at the same time being true to the historic values of pharmacy as a personal, caring profession. In particular, the sector must work to optimise the use of technology to strengthen pharmacy’s locally based service proposition.'

As any pharmacist knows, being at the frontline of the NHS is to be ever-vigilant, and the work we do is vital to the health of both the general public and the NHS. We are all fully aware that pharmacies are so much more than purveyors of pills!

The link between supply and service is our history and our future. This link is a crucial element of the established, trusted service model of community pharmacy – namely convenient, face-to-face care from health care professionals, locally responsive and community based.

‘We have unique strengths and deliver immensely valuable benefits to patients, communities and the NHS. The network of local pharmacies must remain the beating heart of pharmaceutical care in the community.’