Pharmacists should not wait for invitations to the NHS party
Pharmacists should stop waiting for an invitation to join the NHS party because it will not be coming, members of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Border region heard at a regional conference on 7 May.
Instead, said keynote speaker Stephen Singleton (medical director of
the North East Strategic Health Authority), pharmacists who want to be
involved in the changing NHS should get to know key players, meeting
on a one-to-one basis, putting together business cases and selling their
ideas to service commissioners. His suggestion was to find out what the
primary care trust needs via local delivery plans, their prospectus and
develop a good business case and service level agreement.
Dr Singleton said that the NHS is becoming a kitemark for good service,
though not necessarily as a provider institution, and that the pace of
change is likely to increase.
The message that pharmacists need to get out and fight for a “slice
of the pie” was echoed by other speakers at the regional conference.
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