An exhibition stand jointly sponsored by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society,
the National Pharmaceutical Association, the Company Chemists Association and
the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee was judged to be the best
public sector stand at this year’s Labour Party conference at Brighton
from September, 24 to 28.
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| Pictured at the pharmacy stand are (left to right) Peter Gibson (Company Chemists Association), Veronica Wray (National Pharmaceutical Association), Jean-Pierre Moser (Royal Pharmaceutical Society), Tony Blair (Prime Minister), Michael King (Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee), Judy Vatistas (NPA), Cherie Blair and Roger Odd (the Society) |
The decision was made by the Prime Minister’s wife (Mrs Cherie Blair).
In a statement on October 3, the Society said that Mrs Blair had congratulated
the pharmacy team and had commented on the importance and value of the contribution
that pharmacists made to the National Health Service.
Visitors to the stand during the conference included Mr Alan Milburn (Secretary
of State for Health), Mr John Denham (Minister of State for Health), along with
Lord Hunt and Ms Gisela Stuart (Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State for
Health). Features of the stand included a prototype NHS Direct touch screen,
a container of mixed sweets and tablets, indicating how easy it was to confuse
the two, and a promotional video for pharmacy.
Ms Beverley Parkin (the Society’s director of public affairs) said: “We
are very pleased that the pharmacy stand drew such a positive response throughout
the conference from many members of Parliament and other delegates who visited
the stand to talk about pharmacy and its future.”
The statement added that organisations that represented pharmacy were having
a highly successful political conference season. Over 100 guests had attended
a pharmacy reception at the Conservative Party’s Bournemouth conference
on October 2 and more than 70 guests had attended a similar reception at the
Liberal Democratic Party’s conference, also at Bournemouth, on September
18.