As health policy is devolved in Great Britain, having a dedicated Welsh office and Welsh Pharmacy board is a really powerful tool when engaging with politicians and other health professionals in Wales. It’s allowed us to lobby and deliver some real changes for members in Wales.
Here are just some of the things we’ve been working on in 2011 and our plans for 2012:
Promoting and representing the profession
• In the run up to the 2011 Welsh Assembly Government election we produced a Manifesto for Pharmacy and met with all of the political parties to promote it
• In order to support members in Wales we produced a lobbying toolkit to help them engage with their local Assembly Members
• We continued to host the ‘Cross-Party’ Pharmacy group, using it to highlight relevant issues such as pharmacy provision in rural communities to politicians
• We produced a number of guides for our members, including a review of the Governments policy pledges and a who’s who of Assembly members
• We submitted evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee on a number of topics, including the community pharmacy contract, stroke reduction and care homes.
• In 2012 we will be continuing with this work, and also will be seeking to understand and influence the significant new powers of the Welsh Government
Medicines Safety
• We produced a report on medicines safety and continued throughout the year to use its finding to promote the role of the profession
• We continued to develop partnerships with key organisations such as 1000 Lives plus
• In 2012 we will continue with this work and focus on high risk drugs, high risk settings such as nursing homes and helping patients to understand their medicines.
Public relations and communication
• We have continued to publish our regular column in the Western Mail, and have enjoyed a growing presence on TV and Radio, with numerous slots on BBC Radio, ITV, S4C and local radio.
• We have kept our members informed through the ‘Professional Matters’ section of the PJ, our newsletter, and the creation of a Welsh Pharmacy Group which is an online forum for all members in Wales to hear the latest pharmacy news and share examples of best practice
• We have launched a Blog to promote the Society and pharmacists to a wider audience
• We continue to lobby to see greater pharmacist access to the shared patient record
• In 2012 we are planning for more media exposure for pharmacists
Local Practice Forums
• We have continued to develop and support LPFs, and in 2011 held events on subjects as diverse as CPD, Patient Decision Making, Inhaler technique, Transfer of Care, mentoring and pharmacy involvement in research.
• We also worked with the LPFs to develop our work programme to ensure it met the needs of our member
• We held an all-Wales LPF day to allow members from across the country to meet up and share best practice
• We continued to develop local ‘virtual networks’
• All LPFs are developing projects around particular ‘themes’ to improve practice locally. Themes include adherence, rural healthcare, monitored dosage system and intervention recording.
• In 2012 we plan to continue to support this ambitious programme of events and projects, and to use technology such as ‘webinars’ and the mentor database to put pharmacists in touch with other pharmacists who can help them.
Pharmacist prescribing
• We continued to lobby for a greater recognition and use of prescribing pharmacists. This resulted in a paper being agreed at All Wales Medicines Strategy Group which should see a much more strategic approach to the use of prescribing pharmacists, and eventually a greater number
• In 2012 we will continue working and lobbying to see this strategy become a reality