SUSHRUTA
Journal of Health Policy & Opinions
Pharmacist as an Integral Member of the Medical Team:
An Opinion on Changing Perceptions of Extended Roles
Áine Hackett
Lead Pharmacist, (Polypharmacy & Primary Care Network), St Georges University Hospital
NHS Trust, London
Keywords
Pharmacist, extended roles, multi-professional teams
cite as: Hackett A. Pharmacist as an integral member of the Medical Team: An opinion on
changing perceptions of extended roles. Sushruta 2019 (Nov) 36-37 DOI: 10.38192/12.1.21
Pharmaceutical products account for the third largest spend for the National Health Service
(NHS), with the bill in England alone, exceeding £17 billion per year 1 . The majority of patients
admitted into hospital take medicines or will have done so at some point prior to their
admission. So, predictably pharmacy and in particular the pharmacist in the NHS 10-year plan,
is defined as having “an essential role to play” 2 .
NHS reformers are looking to pharmacists to help tackle the on-going dilemma that is an
ageing population, rising co-morbidities and a shortage of doctors and nurses. In fact, my
current role as lead pharmacist for polypharmacy and designated Primary Care Network (PCN)
fit into transformation plans. Pharmacists are primed to deliver on the aspirations of the NHS
Long term plan with a reach that extends beyond previously designated roles. Our coverage
is pervasive, with expanded roles in domiciliary care, medicines administration, medication
safety, electronic prescribing, clinics, ward rounds, monitoring of high cost drugs and funding,
quality assurance, theatre and anaesthetics.
Since joining the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) register in the summer of 2015, I
have worked in different trusts across several specialities. More recently I completed a
clinically enhanced independent prescribing course and whilst performing physical
examination on patients, I was bemused by the variety of responses when I introduced myself
as a Pharmacist. In hindsight, this response was probably unsurprising and reflects the public
perception of traditional pharmacy roles.
We live in a generation of prevalent media domination of public opinion, at the forefront of
this are medical dramas and documentaries, which to an extent influence people’s insight into
professional roles. In 2015, a study to determine how pharmacists were depicted in the
broadcast media in the United States of America between 1970 and 2013, found that of the
231 pharmacist portrayals identified, 145 (63%) were negative roles, 56 (24%) were neutral,
and 30 (13%) were positive. Additionally, very few pharmacist characters were ever cast in
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recurring roles. 3,4 Even within St Georges Hospital where the Channel 4® documentary ‘24
Hours in &E’ 5 is filmed, pharmacists have not yet been featured, despite being a regular
member of the frontline healthcare team.
To the general public, a pharmacist is defined as “a person one can go to when one needs a
prescription or something for a minor ailment” 6 but that is a small part of the job of a modern
pharmacist. How can the profession change the public perception? Will the NHS 10-year plan
change this, and should we expect to be more visible in the forthcoming years?
As exciting as the continued growth potential of the profession is, especially in secondary
care, pharmacists do have the potential of developing an identity crisis. For years pharmacists
have worked hard to be integrated into multi-disciplinary teams. With the crossover of roles
between the dispensing pharmacist vs the prescribing pharmacist, we risk becoming the
profession with a confused or indeterminate identity within the health service to the public.
I believe we need to be advocating what our profession does, more than merely ‘showing an
advert of informing public how to access the chemist for minor ailments, to reduce hospital
encounters’. We must and should create awareness of our profession as a vital, indispensable
pillar supporting the NHS. I started this piece trying to determine what the general public
might define what a pharmacist is, so it seems fitting to end it with a pharmacist’s definition
of a pharmacist. For me, I am a medicines specialist who can act in many different roles,
spanning from a friendly conversationalist to providing a listening ear for patients with a
supportive role in therapy.
Fundamentally, my aim is to make medicine use more effective both clinically and financially
and to improve the NHS ability to provide care to those who need it, when they need and for
as long as they need it. That for me is integral in keeping the NHS the great institution that it
is.
References
1. Ewbank L, Omojomolo D, Sullivan K & McKenna H. The rising cost of medicines
to
the
NHS;
The
Kings
Fund;
April
2018
medicines.pdf (accessed 2.11.19)
2. NHS
(accessed 2.11.19)
3. O’Shea T,
6 Memorable Television Pharmacist. Pharmacy Times͖
2017
memorable-television-pharmacists (accessed 2.11.19
4. Yanicak A, Mohorn PL, Monterroyo P, et.al. Public perception of pharmacists: film and
television portrayals from 1970 to 2013. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003) 2015;55(6):578-86
5.
24 Hours in A&E (2011-). The Garden. Distributors Channel 4 Television Corporation
(2011) (UK) (TV)
6. General public not aware of pharmacists' new role; The Pharmaceutical Journal,
Vol. 275, p157; Aug 2005
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