| p>
Partnership between politicians, the people and the professions is needed if devolution is to improve the well-being of those who live in Wales, the chairman of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Welsh Executive, Mr Colin Ranshaw, told guests at a reception in the banqueting hall of Cardiff Castle on January 18. Among the guests were five members of the National Assembly for Wales, including pharmacist Geraint Davies.
Mr Ranshaw said that the past year had been a momentous one for Wales, with the National Assembly holding its first meeting in May and gaining devolved powers in July. Also in the past year, the Society's Welsh Executive had acquired a permanent secretary and had taken up residence in premises in Cardiff's Mount Stuart Square, close to the assembly building. Its role was to implement Society policy in Wales, and the Society had recognised the need for the executive to be close to the assembly's opinion formers and decision makers if there was to be an effective partnership. Mr Ranshaw added that the goals of the Society and the executive had much in common with the aspirations of the National Assembly. Pharmacists in all sectors and throughout Wales could help the assembly realise the aims and objectives of a number of its strategies, including those for primary care, sexual health, carers, health promotion, mental health, human resources and drugs of misuse. |
Pharmacists and politicians: Left to right, Dr Dai Lloyd, AM, Mr Peter Rogers, AM, Mr Ranshaw (chairman, Welsh Executive), Mr Geraint Davies, AM, Mrs Erica Barrie (secretary, Welsh Executive), Mrs Christine Glover (President of the Society), Mr David Melding, AM, Mr William Graham, AM |
Mr Ranshaw went on to describe some of the initiatives and projects in Wales in which pharmacists were already helping to realise these aims.
Mr Ranshaw also outlined the value to Wales of its 2,000 pharmacists as the guardians of medicines and drugs, ensuring the best available medicines at the best available price. They had had an important role in the recent 'flu crisis, since every patient who had visited a general medical practitioner would have visited a pharmacy afterwards and many more would have taken advice from a pharmacist without having visited a GP. There were more than 700 pharmacies in Wales, offering services that were effective, efficient, equitable, accessible, acceptable and appropriate.
Other guests at the reception included the pharmaceutical, medical and nursing advisers to the National Assembly, plus representatives of local health groups, health authorities, National Health Service trusts, social services departments, health professions and health charities. Pharmacists present represented the main fields of pharmacy practice in Wales, pharmacy education and training.