You can support our work to encourage MPs to become members of the All-Party Pharmacy Group (APPG).

The Society is one of the four sponsors of the secretariat to the APPG in the House of Commons. It has proved to be an extremely good advocate for pharmacy, raising issues that affect our profession. The APPG also published a report on the future of pharmacy, which was largely incorporated into the Pharmacy White Paper which set out the range of additional services that should be pharmacy-led in a future healthcare environment.

The APPG is now to convene again, post-general election. The Group is compiled of current members of the Lords and Commons. Ex-politicians can no longer be members and the APPG has lost many good members who put the case for pharmacy and it is now up to the four sponsoring bodies to encourage new MPs to join the Group.

This is an excellent opportunity for pharmacists to ask that their constituency MP joins and participates in the APPG.

The instructions below provide a quick and very simple method of lobbying your constituency MP and asking that they help us shape a future for pharmacy. Please spend five minutes of your time supporting your profession:

1. Log onto the House of Commons ‘find your MP’ website: .
2. Type your home postcode into the box provided, marked: “Find your MP”.
3. Click on the constituency MP’s name, which opens up a page that contains a personal email address.
4. Click on the email address to open up an email to your MP.
5. Type in the MP’s name into the email, copy and paste the letter below into the email, and press send.
6. Email Charles Willis to tell us you have invited your MP – please tell us who this is so we can maintain a list of who has been lobbied.

Letter:

I am a pharmacist who lives in your constituency and I want to ask you to support pharmacists serving the community in hospital and within community pharmacies across the UK. The profession is highly qualified and able to deliver real benefits to the public and patients within the space of a single Parliament. The All-Party Pharmacy Group has demonstrated leadership in its approach to the future role for pharmacy and the profession is keen to see it continue to play an active role in leading public debate on all pharmacy-related issues.

I ask you to become a member of the Group, thus helping to shape the future of healthcare in the UK. I receive regular updates on developments on activities at the APPG from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and would be pleased to follow your endeavours in taking a full role in discussions and help us promote a profession that is held in such high esteem by the public.