Reply from Jean-Pierre Moser, head of corporate communications and membership at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society

JEAN-PIERRE MOSER, head of corporate communications and membership at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, responds:

Issues relating to access to oral contraception and emergency hormonal contraception have made news in recent weeks and the Society worked to ensure pharmacy’s voice was heard on both stories.

In December, the Daily Mail published a story about EHC being made available to girls under the age of 16, which criticised the provision of contraceptive services through pharmacies. The Society responded with a letter to the editor (PDF 40K), which highlighted the fact that pharmacists are experts in medicines and that they must make the welfare of their patients their first concern. The letter was published by the Daily Mail on 20 December.

Also in December, Lord Darzi announced in the House of Lords, a pilot scheme to make the oral contraceptive pill available to the public via patient group directions. A Society statement was prepared (PDF 60K) that broadly welcomed the news. This was issued to all national news desks. The public relations department at the Society also contacted key broadcast media and arranged interviews with the BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC West Midlands, BBC Radio Nottingham and BBC Radio Wiltshire.

It is not only through campaign work that the Society achieves media coverage. The public relations team works hard to maintain pharmacy’s presence in national media on key healthcare issues.

To help keep Society members informed of this work, a monthly report of PR activity is made available on the Society’s website.