This article
Reprint
Photocopy

Ten tribes of pharmacy

Tribalism was alive and well in Glasgow earlier this week — and this is not a reference to either Celtic or Rangers. Bill Scott, chief pharmacist in Scotland, denounced the existence of primary care pharmacists, stating “primary care pharmacy is not the way to go” and “primary care pharmacists are pixies — doctors’ little helpers”.

Let us hope that this dismissal of well over 1,000 pharmacists (who have backgrounds in hospital, health board/authority advice and the community) was said for political effect and with an eye for a headline. Otherwise, it is an indictment of how out of touch Mr Scott is with pharmacists in his own country. He would do well to visit the Princes Street surgery in Dundee where (shock, horror) a primary care pharmacist runs a coronary heart disease prevention project, and to the Glasgow CHD initiative where community pharmacists have a similar (but equally successful) story to tell. Both initiatives were discussed at the conference and will be reported in The Journal soon.

Primary care pharmacists should be welcomed with open arms precisely because they come from such different backgrounds. Former hospital pharmacists working in primary care will inevitably have a different way of looking at problems than their colleagues in the community — but both can benefit patients.

Pharmacists must somehow rid themselves of the tribal “them and us” mentality, where “them” might be hospital pharmacists, community pharmacists, academics or whatever, and only the “us” matter. The problem starts early on when the decision has to be made to go down either the hospital or community route. Most young pharmacists barely know how to run at that stage, let alone take part in the egg and spoon race or the obstacle race.

The tribes in pharmacy should not confuse what they do professionally with the fact that there are not enough of them to do it. It is hard for hospital pharmacists not to be aggrieved when their departments are decimated by the expansion of primary care pharmacy in their area. Rather they should be proud of the fact that their skills and expertise are being used to good effect in a different arena. They are quite entitled, however, to be aggrieved that there are simply not enough pharmacists for all the available jobs.

Primary care pharmacy may be the catalyst for change that will filter throughout the profession so that in five years’ time the most disgruntled community pharmacist of today will find job satisfaction in an acute hospital.

Back to Top