Relationships – new, old, good and bad – was a recurring theme at this year’s Pharmacy Show

Professional links – from the breakdown in communication between PSNC and the DH over funding plans to the announcement of formal joint working between the RPS and APTUK – was an enduring refrain at the Pharmacy Show 2017.

The event, which is the largest annual gathering of pharmacy professionals in the UK, saw sessions delivered by high profi le speakers including Sue Sharpe and Ash Soni. The PSNC chief executive was blunt in explaining how the relationship between the community pharmacy sector and the NHS had spiralled downwards over the last two years, describing its current status as “pretty dire”, while at the opposite end of the spectrum, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) president said he was “delighted” that the professional bodies for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians were working together to develop a “road map” for collaborative working.

More than one faction of England’s Department of Health (DH) came in for criticism, with members of the Rebalancing Programme Board – set up to advise ministers on ways in which a better balance between legislation and regulation can be struck – defending leaked documents that described how technicians could supervise the supply of prescription medicines in the future. Wales’ chief pharmacist Andrew Evans pointed out that the Board needed to explore many different scenarios in order to make recommendations, but emphasis was placed on how what was billed as “proposals” by some parts of the press were in fact simply working documents.

In another session at the event, LPC leaders discussed how local relationships were also vital to pharmacy’s future. While great progress has been made at grassroots level, with the sector working well with colleagues in general practice, the panel highlighted the need for more guidance on how to engage with Sustainability and Transformation Plans. STPs are fi ve year plans that dictate how health and care services are delivered across swathes of England, so support was needed to help infl uence decision makers before plans had been set in stone, said Leicestershire and Rutland LPC chief offi cer Luvjit Kandula