#pharmacyheroes

The dedication of pharmacy teams has been applauded by the Chief Executives of the national pharmacy bodies.

Coming together to film a video thanking the sector for its work to support patients, the CEOs of PSNC, AIM, CCA, NPA and RPS said their teams would continue to fight pharmacy’s corner and work flat out to provide support and guidance.

Filmed ahead of the Easter weekend – during which all community pharmacies in England must open for three fixed hours on both Good Friday and Easter Monday – the pharmacy leaders were keen to show their appreciation for the valiant efforts being made during a “massively busy and stressful time”.

Work to keep pharmacy contractors and their teams informed of the latest developments and support them as much as possible continues apace in all five organisations, and the same can be said of local pharmacy representatives.

In a separate statement made earlier this week, PSNC Chief Executive Simon Dukes confirmed that “PSNC will be open for business to support contractors as usual” over the Easter Bank Holidays.

The video message

The CEOs message, in full, is as follows:

​We just wanted to say a really huge thank you to all the community pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, dispensers – the whole pharmacy team – that are helping to keep the NHS network of community pharmacies running.

We know that this is a massively busy and stressful time for you all at the moment, and we thank you for all that we know that you are doing to support your patients and local communities.

Your hard work and dedication in handling the additional workload brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak has been impressive; you really have gone the extra mile.

All of our teams are working flat out to provide support and guidance, to keep you informed of developments and push for the funding you need. The same can be said for your LPC representatives too.

This could be our greatest hour – not a moment of despair – and so I wanted to reassure you that we are doing everything we can, working with others, to make sure that the voice of community pharmacy is heard. Thank you all again for everything that you are doing.