Pharmacist Ben Merriman announced he was “returning to community pharmacy” on X, formerly known as Twitter, last week (December 6).

On Friday (December 8), Mr Merriman said he was “bouncing on the heels of [his] feet” with excitement as he spoke to C+D about why he chose to return to the community sector after over five years in general practice (GP).

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He told C+D that prior to working for four years as a GP pharmacist and another 21 months in the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS), he spent 13 years in community pharmacy.

“I hated leaving,” he said, explaining that he made the “begrudging” decision “for my personal health and family”.

He told C+D that he made the “very hard decision” because “pharmacy had seen continual funding reductions” since 2016 and ultimately his bills are paid with “cold hard cash”, not “job satisfaction”.

 

“I feel optimistic”

 

Mr Merriman told C+D that his decision to return to community pharmacy was intertwined with the raft of upcoming changes to community pharmacy services in England announced last month.

“I’ve come back with the Pharmacy First service, which I think signals a change in the way that the NHS thinks about community pharmacy,” he said.

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“The new advanced services allow community pharmacy to be an essential part of the NHS,” he added.

Mr Merriman said that he felt more “optimistic about the funding” but stressed that “the funding model still needs drastic overhaul”.

 

“Pharmacists will come back”

 

Will Mr Merriman be one of many pharmacists to move from general practice to the community? “I hope so,” he told C+D.

“I do think that pharmacists will come back,” he said, adding "they will see that more faith is being put in the sector”.

“More trust [and] more money has been put in the sector to allow us to do what we do best,” he said.

Meanwhile, he added that he thought spending “over five years in general practice” will make him a “better community pharmacist”.

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GP staff are “much more than doctors and nurses – there are other non-traditional roles like pharmacists and dieticians”, who “work very well together to make sure patients get the best care”, he said.

But he told C+D that he was looking forward to being able to “get to know” patients better.

“When you work in community pharmacy, people will be coming in regularly,” he explained.

“You see people when they’re well” and “when they’re sick and you’re able to build a long-term relationship”, he said.

 

“It’s a privilege to come back”

 

Mr Merriman told C+D that he felt “giddy with excitement” about returning to community pharmacy in January.

He said that having to leave the sector “was the best decision for [him] at the time but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a hard decision to make” and something he “very much regretted” having to do.

“Even when I’ve been in general practice, I’ve tried to champion the sector,” he added.

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“I’m looking forward to delivering Pharmacy First,” he said, adding that as an independent prescriber he has valuable “experience” to offer.

“I love being a pharmacist and it’s a privilege to be able to go back to the job I love with greater knowledge and greater skill mix,” Mr Merriman told C+D.