Britain's Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has reaffirmed the importance of pharmacist care for patients, with president Martin Astbury telling attendees at the RPS annual conference last weekend that "a pharmacy without a pharmacist is a shop".
Astbury said despite the ongoing evolution of technology and legislation, any progress should not lead to the removal of pharmacists from high street chemists.
"Can we replace the community pharmacy network with an Amazon-style operation?" he asked.
"Certainly, but the value of having an expert health professional on the high street will be lost...that's not making the best use of technology or the profession."
The UK pharmacy sector is in flux, with proposed reforms potentially threatening current arrangements.
"The RPS believes that legislation should make it compulsory for a pharmacist to be present whenever a community pharmacy is open...I don't want to see community pharmacy relegated to a drug store," Astbury added.
Interestingly, he also suggested some of the rhetoric about professional services should also focus on existing pharmacy roles.
"It disappoints me enormously when I hear leaders of our profession, although attempting to talk up the new clinical roles that we all believe in, talking down the supply role that we do...they're talking down the fact that we dispense one billion prescriptions safely each year," he said.
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