PSNC has published a range of guidance documents to support contractors and LPCs with pharmacy visits or meetings with MPs.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of local MP engagement has been conducted via email, however, the range of documents we have provided below should help LPCs whether they are facilitating a socially-distanced pharmacy visit or hosting a virtual meeting with an MP via Zoom. 

Guidance for engaging with MPs about the new Pharmacy Collect service (May 2021)

General guidance for engaging with MPs during the pandemic  (August 2020)

MP Visit Guidance (pre-pandemic) (February 2020)

PSNC periodically issues policy briefings on various topics to help those engaging with MPs about pharmacy. These can be used to support discussion during meetings, or can be sent to MPs who request further information on specific issues. Below are our most recently published briefings:

Briefing for MPs – New COVID-19 testing kits available from community pharmacies (May 2021)

Briefing for MPs – Urgent support required for community pharmacies (March 2021)

Briefing for MPs – Financial pressures facing community pharmacies (December 2020)

Briefing for MPs – Flu Season (September 2020)

Briefing for MPs – Community Pharmacy and COVID-19 (joint briefing) (April 2020)

If an MP attends a pharmacy visit, they may offer to collaborate on a press release for use on their website or with local media.  Those who are briefed virtually may also offer to publish supportive statements to promote particular services. A template for either of these is available below which LPCs can edit accordingly.

Press Release for MPs – Promoting the Pharmacy Collect service (May 2021)

Press Release for MPs – Flu Season (September 2020)

Press Release/Supportive Statement for MPs (August 2020)

Value of Community Pharmacy Animation
Local pharmacies save the NHS half a million GP appointments every week and have been on the frontline of the UK’s COVID-19 response. They have been working hard to maintain the health services that local communities need, but pressures on pharmacies themselves are constant. PSNC has launched a video animation showcasing the important work that community pharmacies do and explaining how, with sustainable funding and ongoing support from Government, their role could be developed further.

Value of Pharmacy: Animation and Resources

2021 Pharmacy Advice Audit
Earlier in 2021, 5,830 community pharmacies took part in a PSNC audit to try to quantify the number of informal patient consultations happening in their pharmacy. The results do much to measure the reliance that the public has had on pharmacies through the COVID-19 pandemic and demonstrate the value of pharmacy. PSNC has produced a summary, infographic and social media assets which LPCs and contractors can share to promote the findings.

PSNC Pharmacy Advice Audit 2021: A summary of findings

Infographic aimed at MPs: Community Pharmacy Consultations Update

Social media tiles: (click to enlarge, right-click to save image)

In 2020, Community Pharmacy Lancashire launched a local media campaign, ‘Care For Your Pharmacy’, urging patients to respect pharmacy staff after it reported a rise in cases of aggressive behaviour towards pharmacy teams. They created some useful graphics to support their campaign which others may find helpful to draw from. If you would like any additional information about this campaign, please contact the LPC.

        
Other LPCs have produced various resources throughout the pandemic, such as template letters etc. and others may find these useful for their own communications work. Please follow this link to the ideas sharing page in the LPC Members Area to take a look at other COVID-19 resources LPCs have contributed.

BBC News (19th February): The RPS co-signed a letter to the Prime Minister with 20 other health bodies, which called for better protection against COVID-19 for frontline healthcare workers.

The Mail (16th February): Lord Grade, a Conservative peer, had an opinion piece published in The Mail, where he praised his local independent pharmacy and called for urgent financial support for the sector following ‘a government funding crisis which is bankrupting the nation’s independent chemists’. The article also includes comments from PSNC.

The Guardian (10th February): The Guardian reported that pharmacists in England were considering strike action over the repayments of the £370 million advance issued earlier in the pandemic. The article featured comments from the NPA.

The Guardian (22nd January): The Guardian spoke to the Greater Manchester Local Pharmaceutical about their pharmacy-led COVID-19 vaccination site.

BBC News (14th January): BBC News and other outlets were reporting that high street pharmacies were beginning to roll-out COVID-19 vaccinations.

The Mirror (13th January): The Mirror reported that ASDA would become the first supermarket to offer COVID-19 vaccinations starting from 25th January.

The Independent (7th January): PSNC contributed to an article in The Independent, which further explored the involvement of pharmacies’ in the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

The Telegraph (6th January): The Telegraph featured an article including comments from PSNC, which stated that pharmacies’ offer to give COVID-19 vaccinations had been snubbed by ministers. Similar articles including these comments from PSNC were also featured in The Mail and The Sun.

The Independent (4th January):  An article reports that Tesco and Boots have offered to help with COVID-19 vaccination roll-out; Tesco by way of its distribution arm, through the use of refrigerated lorries to transport vaccinations, and Boots through helping to open three vaccination sites in Halifax, Huddersfield and Gloucester.

BBC News (30th December): An article in which the pharmacy industry urges the government to use the pharmacy network to accelerate the delivery of the newly approved Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is featured in BBC News. This includes a contribution from PSNC.

The Telegraph (22nd November): A survey of 2,000 adults, commissioned by the NPA, found that one in seven people were forced to visit a pharmacy at least twice because they were unable to see their GP in person due to COVID-19.

The Mirror (19th October): The NPA warned ministers that pharmacies could be forced to cut services as the country battles a second wave of COVID-19.

The Telegraph (30th September): PSNC also contributed to an article in The Telegraph on increased demand for flu vaccines and stocks available in community pharmacies.

The Guardian (25th September):  The Guardian also featured an article on demand for flu vaccinations, which featured comments from PSNC.

The Independent (24th September): The Independent later reported that Lloyds was also forced to overhaul its flu vaccination booking system following a tenfold surge in appointments. Similar stories were also featured in BBC News, Sky News and iNews.

BBC News (21st September): Following increased demand, Boots temporarily suspended its flu vaccination bookings for anyone under the age of 65, which was covered in the media.

The Mirror (14th September): Two articles were featured in The Mirror about pharmacy funding as part of its campaign to protect the sector. One has been written by Jackie Doyle-Price MP, Chair of the APPG, who has called upon ministers to ‘stop quibbling over pharmacy funding’. The other highlights a letter that has been written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak on behalf of 1,300 pharmacies, who have urged him to review sector funding.

The Mirror (6th September): The Mirror reported on the results of PSNC’s Pharmacy Advice Audit, warning that pharmacists could go on strike if the sector is not not adequately funded.

The Mirror (4th September): The Mirror featured a report published by the NPA which found that pharmacy funding is currently insufficient and that thousands of pharmacies are at risk of closure.

The Telegraph (11th August): Jackie Doyle-Price MP, chair of the Pharmacy APPG, had an opinion piece in The Telegraph, where she highlighted the role of pharmacy during the pandemic and called for additional support for the sector.

The Telegraph (6th August): The Telegraph reported on a statement from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, which said pharmacists should be able to change quantities, strength and formulation of medicines dispensed to help ‘reduce time-wasting’.

The Telegraph (15th July)/The Mail (16th July): The Telegraph reported that pharmacy closures are set to be reversed, after Matt Hancock indicated that pharmacies will be central to the eventual COVID-19 vaccination programme and will ‘play a massive role’.  

The Mail/The Mirror (13th July): Matt Hancock’s address at the National Pharmacy Association conference picked up some national coverage, where he said ministers were preparing to roll out the ‘biggest flu vaccination programme in history’.  

BBC News (26th June): A survey conducted by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society was reported on, which found that 70% of BAME pharmacists have not been approached by their employer to have a workplace risk assessment. 

The Telegraph (1st June): A record number of prescriptions were issued as the UK entered lockdown after NHS data has revealed that 93 million prescribed medicines were dispensed in March – a rise of more than seven million in the same month last year. PSNC and the CCA are quoted.  

The Mirror (26th May): Pharmacies and chemists issue coronavirus cash crisis warning to Boris Johnson, as The Mirror reports on a letter to the Prime Minister written by the National Pharmacy Association.  

BBC News (16th April): BBC News reported that local pharmacies are facing a cash crisis, with many supplying prescriptions at a loss. The article features some of the pressures experienced in pharmacies at the moment and includes contributions from PSNC Regional Representative an independent contractor, Mark Burdon, and Chief Executive Officer of Community Pharmacy Lancashire, Kath Gulson.

The Times (14th April): reported that pharmacies are in desperate need of appropriate funding to stay afloat, with PSNC quoted as saying that the sector is heading towards a “cliff-edge”.

The Telegraph (12th April): Jackie Doyle-Price, Conservative MP for Thurrock, praised the role of pharmacists amid the COVID-19 outbreak. In particular, she called for greater financial support for the sector “in the form of a special payment to cover the costs incurred in the fight against COVID19”.

ITV News (9th April): reported on a survey – conducted by the PDA – of around 1,000 pharmacy workers that found 89% of pharmacy workers have experienced abuse or aggression in the past month.

The Mirror (9th April): Toby Anderson, chief executive of the Lloyds Pharmacy chain, revealed that 2,500 members of staff are now self-isolating, equivalent to 20% of its entire workforce.

The Sun (8th April) and The Express (9th April): Boots plan to temporarily close 60 stores that have seen a loss in footfall due to COVID-19 – particularly those in airports, train stations and city centres. Pharmacists will be redeployed to busier nearby stores.

ITV News (8th April): reported that a community running group in Bristol is helping local pharmacies deliver medicines to vulnerable patients who cannot leave their homes.

BBC Radio 4’s Today programme (7th April):

PSNC Chief Executive Simon Dukes discussed the national medicines delivery service for shielded patients, raising concerns that current plans could leave vulnerable people at risk from fraudsters and potentially without their medicines. PSNC Committee Member Mark Burdon also spoke about the impact of the situation on his mental and physical health, as well as on his pharmacy’s bank balance.

BBC News (6th April): reported concerns that high street pharmacists are needlessly being put at risk of catching and spreading coronavirus due to a lack of personal protective equipment.

The Times (2nd April): reported that intimidated pharmacists are having to call the police as frustrated patients are becoming abusive.

The Times (30th March): PSNC was referenced in article that reported that small pharmacies are facing closure as a result of drug price rises. PSNC was referenced in the article.

The Mail (25th March): Featured a piece showing a pharmacist – fully covered in protective clothing – delivering medicines to a patient’s home. The photos also show how the pharmacist is practicing social distancing measures while making the delivery.

BBC News (24th March): A video piece, Inside a pharmacy coping with coronavirus, was published in which Marc Borson, a community pharmacist in Manchester, explains what it is like on the frontline.

The Mail (24th March): Pharmacies say they are worried they have been ‘completely forgotten’ by the government due to inadequate supplies of PPE.

iNews (23rd March): Pharmacies are urging people to stop stockpiling medicines and medical devices.

The Sun (23rd March): The paper reported pharmacies are running critically low on crucial drugs after it saw an urgent memo to Boots staff which warned that that its supplies of paracetamol could be exhausted by the end of the week.

The Sunday Times (22nd March): PSNC Committee Member Garry Myers was interviewed for an article focusing on the surge in demand for painkillers. The piece explained that the volume of work for pharmacies had doubled overnight, leaving them “on the brink of collapse”.

BBC Radio 4’s Today programme (16th March):

PSNC Chief Executive Simon Dukes discussed the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the community pharmacy sector, calling for urgent investment in community pharmacies to support them through this unprecedented situation.