Overworked? Fed up? Angry? We want to meet you
By James Wood, Director of Member and LPC Support at Community Pharmacy England
Fed up with the current state of community pharmacy. Unsure and worried about the future. Stressed. Exhausted. Working round the clock. Angry that years of doing the right thing isn’t being properly rewarded. Wondering whether Government really understand the challenges you face … and what your negotiator is doing about it all.
If any of these sounds familiar: we want to meet you.
This summer, Community Pharmacy England – including the senior team, independent regional representatives, other members of the committee and our Chair, Dame Professor Jenny Harries – will be travelling around the country hosting an event for pharmacy owners in every region.
These annual regional roadshows are your chance to share views on any and all topics, to hold your negotiator to account and to help shape our strategy and policy for the future. Whatever your views, questions, concerns and challenges for us: we want to hear them.
We hope you will join us to share the outlook for your pharmacy right now, and to tell us what it would take to put things right. As well as more funding, what is the one thing you want us to fix? Or perhaps you have ideas for the future of the whole sector, not just your own pharmacy?
As well as sharing your thoughts, you’ll have direct access to the senior team and your independent pharmacy representative on the Committee. We’ll share an honest update of the current situation, and the outlook, as well as our thinking on strategy and tactics. Then in an open Q&A session you can question the team and your representatives, test our thinking, challenge, and ensure your views have been fully taken on board.
A flexible agenda
We are keeping the agenda for this year’s regional meetings under close review as CPCF negotiations continue to ensure we can make the most of our time together. The delays to conclusion of the negotiations are deeply frustrating for everyone, including at Community Pharmacy England – pharmacy owners need news and clarity quickly, and we are pushing to make that happen.
If we’re able to talk about a negotiations outcome at the events, we will do so. If we can’t, we’ll share what we can – including on our strategy and on critical issues like medicines supply – and we’ll spend time together thinking about what would help your pharmacy business in the future: focused on practical, workable solutions. You’ll be able to question and challenge us fully and there will be time to talk to and learn from your local colleagues.
Join us
We hope you will want to join us for our summer roadshows which will give you:
- Direct, in-person access to the people negotiating for you – and the chance to ask questions, challenge our thinking and hold your negotiator to account;
- Clear and honest updates about where things stand, and what we want; and
- The chance to share your views and experiences with us and with colleagues.
In periods of uncertainty it is critical that we maintain dialogue across the sector, and we hope you will leave these roadshows confident that your views have been heard and energised having been part of conversations about the future of community pharmacy.
