Scotland

Scottish public supports expansion of pharmacy roles

Pharmacy teams across Scotland are working towards taking on a wider range of roles by 2030, and a new survey from Ipsos-MORI shows that the Scottish public supports this.

Most people have received care from a pharmacy team during their life, whether in a community or hospital pharmacy. In recent years, pharmacists have expanded their roles in GP practices, and now work in 96% of Scotland's GP practices to help patients to manage their medicines.

Royal Pharmaceutical Society Scotland (RPS Scotland), which represents pharmacists working in all settings, has produced an exciting new vision for the future of pharmacy, Pharmacy 2030, which outlines what RPS Scotland hopes all pharmacy teams will deliver by the end of the decade.

  • By 2030 pharmacists will support people to get the best from their medicines through providing advice and prescribing new medicines where appropriate.
    • 95% of people living in Scotland support pharmacists advising on medicines.
    • 87% think it is important that pharmacists prescribe medicines.
  • Pharmacists will be the go-to healthcare professionals for a wide range of clinical conditions like headaches, fever or athlete’s foot.
    • 89% of people think pharmacists should be a first point of call for common clinical conditions. 
  • Furthermore, there will be a vital role for pharmacists in leading work to ensure medicines are safe and effective.
    • 81% of people think pharmacists monitoring, reviewing and adjusting medicines for long term conditions such as blood pressure is important.

Commenting on the survey, Clare Morrison, Director of Scotland at RPS, said:

“Having just published Pharmacy 2030, our vision for the future of pharmacy in Scotland, it is fantastic to know that the Scottish public relate to the ideas contained within our vision.

“The ideas in the vision have been developed with the ultimate aims of improving the quality of patient experience, as well as improving safety and capacity across the NHS and social care.  It’s great to know that the public really value pharmacists taking on a wider range of roles, whether in hospital, general practice or community settings.”

The full Pharmacy 2030 vision and executive summary can be accessed online, here.

You can read the full Ipsos-MORI survey results, here.

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