PSNC chief executive Sue Sharpe has warned that pharmacy will need to convince commissioners of its ability to deliver public health services if it is to fully grasp the "massive opportunities" in the reformed NHS.

Speaking at the PSNC conference last week (April 24), Ms Sharpe stressed that the "enormous" scale of change in the NHS had created uncertainties in commissioning, which would require pharmacies to "seize the opportunities offered". Failure to do so could threaten pharmacy's role in public health, she warned.

"We are facing a revolutionary change in the NHS and community pharmacy must change too and adapt to the environment it's working in," she argued.

"We are facing a revolutionary change in the NHS and community pharmacy must change too and adapt to the environment it's working in" Sue Sharpe, PSNC	More on commissioning Pharmacy under threat in new NHS, MP warns Build partnerships to get commissions, Summit told Forget NHS budgets and source other income,       Numark conference told
	Ms Sharpe named clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) as a potential area for work because there was a risk GPs could ignore pharmacy's contribution to public health. "How they use community pharmacy is unknown," she said. "Some have shown real engagement in developing a closer relationship with community pharmacy, but each one will be different."

Ms Sharpe stressed that pharmacy could offer clear benefits to commissioners, including access to a large part of the local population. "At both national and local levels there are massive opportunities to use pharmacy for public health work," she said.

Ms Sharpe pledged that PSNC would support service negotiations "better than ever before" over the period of NHS upheaval. But she stressed that it was still early days for the system and forecast that it could take up to three years to fully see the outcomes for pharmacy in the NHS.