Speaking at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s annual conference in Birmingham yesterday (September 4), Keith Ridge said that although pharmacists continue to operate under “financial constraint”, they should be “under no illusion…quality is being raised across the NHS”.

“Sometimes it can look like pharmacy is not open to change,” Dr Ridge told delegates. “Remember the NHS’s agenda more broadly involves change for all professionals, and the pharmacy professions need to be even more ready to respond to deliver the quality and value demanded.”

Dr Ridge also stressed that “poor quality services and outcomes”, do pharmacists “no favours whatsoever”.

“In my view, pharmacy needs to think more systematically about quality,” he said.

Dr Ridge added that quality cannot be delivered “if we remain tied up in old ways of working, that restrict pharmacy professionals from doing their best for patients”.

"Rocky two years"

Dr Ridge acknowledged that community pharmacy has had “a rocky two years” and said he “personally fully acknowledges the significant opposition to the government’s changes to community pharmacy”.

“At the same time as proceeding on that rocky road, NHS England is transforming pharmacy practice across the whole system,” he said.

What happened to the Call to Action?

In response to a question from clinical community pharmacist Ben Merriman about what happened to 2013’s Call to Action consultation on the future of community pharmacy, Dr Ridge said: “Things move on.”

“We have had the Five Year Forward View and the 'Murray' review, which you are waiting with baited breath for a response to,” he added. “We think a lot of what is in Richard [Murray’s] report is already in place.”

Find out what was in the Call to Action response – buried by NHS England for three years – here.