INTERVIEW
PHARMACIST TAKES
by John Macgill T
he new intake of 51 MSPs to the Scottish Parliament includes a dentist, two nurses, a former pharmacy assistant and a clinical pharmacist. For 20 years, Maree Todd, recently elected as an SNP MSP for the Highlands and Islands, worked as a member of the psychiatry team - first at the former Craig Dunain Hospital - then at New Craigs Hospital in Inverness. As she told John Macgill, she believes this experience will help her as she represents the people of the Highlands and Islands, and the pharmacy profession, in the Scottish Parliament.
Maree Todd has brought forward our meeting to 8.30am having found out that she is to sit on the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee, which is to gather for its inaugural meeting at the time we had originally chosen.
Sitting in her small office, with the playground sounds of the local primary school coming through the window, Maree she tells me she has no illusions about the challenges that the new committee faces.
12 - SCOTTISH PHARMACIST
‘There are a number of things we have already promised to do, there are a number of things we will have to keep looking at,’ she says. ‘From my own perspective as a pharmacist, I will be looking at increasing access to data for pharmacists; I am interested in the idea of extending the minor ailments scheme; I am very interested in the idea of getting the multi-disciplinary team approach fully functional in primary care, having a pharmacist working within these teams and supporting GP practices. I think primary care, in particular, is changing and that integration of health and social care is just a brilliant idea.
‘In terms of secondary care, I have to say there is a real tension for me as a Highlands and Islands MSP as medicine has become more complex and specialised. Specialised for us means far away, and that is really difficult. I know people in Argyll and Bute who travel a six-hour round trip three times a week for dialysis. The Highlands and Islands constituency represents 44 per cent of the landmass of Scotland. Reminding my new colleagues of the geography
EXPERIENCE INTO SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT
“IN TERMS OF SECONDARY CARE, I HAVE TO SAY THERE IS A REAL TENSION FOR ME AS A HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS MSP AS MEDICINE HAS BECOME MORE COMPLEX AND SPECIALISED. SPECIALISED FOR US MEANS FAR AWAY, AND THAT IS REALLY DIFFICULT. I KNOW PEOPLE IN ARGYLL AND BUTE WHO TRAVEL A SIX HOUR ROUND TRIP THREE TIMES A WEEK FOR DIALYSIS.”
will be a big part of my job every day. For instance, there is going to be a network of trauma centres but nobody is even talking about the possibility of a trauma centre in Inverness. There is a trauma centre planned for Aberdeen, but that is a six-hour round trip for me – and I live close to Inverness, not in the remote Highlands. Ticking the ‘Aberdeen’ box does not tick the ‘North’ box. At the same time, and this is the tension, as a healthcare professional I understand
that more specialisation means better care for those who need it.’
So, is Maree Todd a pharmacist who is an MSP, or an MSP who is a pharmacist? The answer, she says, is both.
‘I am not sure I can ever lose the pharmacist inside me. When I was first thinking what I wanted to achieve as an MSP, I thought that maybe going onto the health committee was not a good idea because I felt that that
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