The Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 made institutions around the world question what they need to do to tackle racism. Part of the UK government’s response was funding a report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, published today, which makes 24 recommendations for changes in government to address inequality.

The pharmacy sector has produced its own “joint national plan for inclusive pharmacy practice”, published on March 10 by NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I), the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK.

In a C+D podcast, Dr Patel, a pharmacist and academic who has been closely involved with the joint plan, explains more about the initiative to Naimah Callachand, C+D’s clinical and custom content editor.

Read Ms Callachand's views on the plan here (article continued below).

Dr Patel, who also sits on C+D's advisory board, says the plan will help to “address equality, diversity and inclusion across our daily working lives and across parts of healthcare”. He emphasises the importance of tackling these issues objectively at organisational, individual and strategic levels.

The plan “is designed to deliver healthcare services that can be tailored more effectively to the needs of the local population that we are all serving, particularly within our communities,” he says.

Understanding these communities better may be one way of combatting “decades of health inequalities,” Dr Patel adds. 

NHSE&I says in the plan it will be seeking “pharmacy trailblazers” already demonstrating “culturally competent and tailored approaches to healthcare service delivery by pharmacy teams”.

Dr Patel discusses the next phases of the plan, explaining how a roundtable discussion scheduled for later this year will shape the plan and will provide a platform for views on racism to be heard from people across the sector.

You can listen to the podcast above. Alternatively, follow C+D's podcasts by searching “Chemist+Druggist podcast” on your preferred app or on Soundcloud