Expanding on CPS’s vision for the sector – which it launched in September – the negotiator’s chief executive Harry McQuillan said pharmacists should be allowed to decide when is appropriate to leave the pharmacy for “an extended period of time” and place the safe running of the premises in “the hands of the technician”.

“We’re not of the opinion that you should have to be there all the time,” he told C+D earlier this month (October 7).

Pharmacists should “have the ability to make a decision based on context…whether it is appropriate to leave or remain within the pharmacy”, Mr McQuillan said.

They should have the “comfort” of knowing that standard operating procedures and trained staff will ensure the safe running of the premises in their absence.

However, “the responsibility and accountability would still lie with the pharmacist”, he stressed.

Changes to pharmacy supervision regulations would have helped during this year’s “beast from the east”, Mr McQuillan claimed.