New Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn is "willing to engage" in conversations about the sector's potential, lobbying group Pharmacy Voice has said.

Pharmacy Voice spoke to Jeremy Corbyn MP at the Labour party conference in Brighton yesterday (September 28) and the group’s spokesperson Diedre Doogan said the politician showed “particular interest in the healthcare advice pharmacy teams can give”. 

It was “most encouraging” to see that Mr Corbyn – who was elected as party leader earlier this month – is interested in the "excellent accessibility community pharmacy offers patients and the public", Ms Doogan said.

Ms Doogan also spoke with the new shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander, who discussed “the key role of all primary care clinicians”.

Ms Alexander stressed that pharmacists, opticians and audiologists are often "forgotten" areas of healthcare and “are capable of offering a lot more than often given credit for”, Ms Doogan reported.

Before May's general election Labour's shadow health secretary Andy Burnham invited C+D readers to explore ways to expand their role if the party won the election. 

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