Pharmacists must stop being "hung up" on what GPs are doing and recognise that they are supportive of community pharmacy, C+D Senators have argued.

They told the C+D Senate on public health last week (November 6) that pharmacists were "making a big mistake" if they continued to work in competition, rather than collaboratively, with GPs.

They stressed that GP leaders were becoming increasingly supportive of pharmacy's role and that their mindset would filter down into the general workforce.

"We can make such a difference, so we should stop putting ourselves down," said the lead of the healthy living pharmacy pathfinder work programme Deborah Evans	More on the C+D Senate on public health Pharmacy leaders praised for their 'joined-up' thinking Be proactive to advance in public health Pharmacy gets £1.5m research boost from DH
	Robbie Turner, chief executive of Community Pharmacy West Yorkshire, said most GPs felt "better about community pharmacists than pharmacy does about itself".

He argued that there was no direct competition between the two professions, as GPs should take on acute care and pharmacists were best placed to provide traditional public health services.

In his area, pharmacists had become the "go-to provider" for delivering public health services such as smoking cessation and alcohol screening to a large number of people, Mr Turner told the Senate.

Pharmacy and public health forum chair Richard Parish also urged pharmacists to avoid out-and-out competition with GPs. "What we don't want to destroy is the concept of an integrated, joined-up health system," he stressed.

"We need to look at what outcomes we want in primary care, and how we can differentiate the system by who delivers it best," he said. "I think that will probably result in pharmacy being asked to do more than it is already."

Despite there being some "recalcitrant GPs", Mr Parish said many GP leaders "could not be more supportive" of pharmacy. He named the new Royal College of General Practitioners chair Maureen Baker and National Association of Primary Care chair Charles Alessi as examples.

"They will lead opinion over time, but you can't expect everyone to be in the same place at the same time," argued Mr Parish, who is also a non-executive director for the Public Health England advisory board.

Deborah Evans, lead of the healthy living pharmacy pathfinder work programme, urged pharmacists to stop worrying about GPs and focus on their own strengths. "I hear too many pharmacists moaning about what's happening on the other side of the fence," she said. "We can make such a difference, so we should stop putting ourselves down. I'm fed up of hearing about it, really – where's the evidence that x per cent of GPs think pharmacists are rubbish?"

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