C+D Senators have downplayed the damage done by negative media coverage of pharmacy, saying it is unlikely to affect pharmacists who have a good relationship with their patients.

Speakers at the C+D Senate on professionalism last week (August 22) said patients did pay attention to negative media coverage, such as last December's BBC's Inside Out investigation into the sale of prescription-only medicines without prescriptions. But patients did not think the stories applied to pharmacists who had a high standing in their community.

"With all this negative PR that's gone round, not one person has come in to say ‘well you're a dodgy pharmacist'. They say ‘that's what they do, that's not what you do'," argued Aniruddh Patel, contractor at Savages Pharmacy in Burnham on Crouch, Essex.

"Those issues rarely come up in a community where you're established and integrated [and] people trust you more" Graham Jones, contractor	More from the C+D Senate C+D Senate calls for mentoring network for       'abandoned' graduates Video interviews with the Senators Live blog: How the Senate unfolded MORE NEWS
	Pharmacist and West Berkshire councillor Graham Jones, who owns two pharmacies in Lambourn and Shrivenham, said negative comments were more likely at the pharmacy where he spends less time.

"Those issues rarely come up in a community where you're established and integrated [and] people trust you more. When I go to the other [pharmacy], those sort of comments are more likely," he said.

Mr Jones said pharmacists were "natural leaders" of their communities and emphasised that his profession helped him get elected to the council.

A survey of C+D readers, carried out earlier this month, revealed that 90 per cent of 79 respondents felt it was crucial for the profession to promote itself to patients and other health professionals. Eighty-eight per cent believed the BBC's investigation had tarnished the profession's reputation.

However, University of Nottingham professor of pharmacy law and ethics Joy Wingfield said the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's presence on TV was "streaks ahead of what it used to be" and she did not understand why C+D readers had called for more positive PR. "Where have they been if they don't think there's any PR?" she said.

Pharmacist and former Lib Dem MP Sandra Gidley said it was "easy to criticise" the profession for not promoting itself better, but claimed it was hard for pharmacy to target people effectively.

"A lot of people don't watch the news, so how do we access those people?" she said.

The C+D Senate was held on August 22. Catch up with the Senate as it happened with C+D's live blog and watch interviews with the senators.