INTERVIEW
MEETING THE CHALLENGE
As COMMuNITY PHARMACY ReTuRNs TO A MORe ‘NORMAL’ WAY OF WORKING, CHIeF PHARMACeuTICAL OFFICeR, CATHY HARRIsON, sHARes HeR THOuGHTs WITH PHARMACY IN FOCus (PIF) ABOuT THe IMPACT OF THe CORONAVIRus ePIDeMIC ON THe PHARMACIsTs AND PHARMACY TeAMs, THe LessONs BeING LeARNeD ABOuT LeADeRsHIP AND PARTNeRsHIP, AND HOW sHe THINKs THe PROFessION WILL eMeRGe CHANGeD – AND sTRONGeR.
By John Macgill I
n late March, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer Cathy Harrison was supposed to be presenting
alongside colleagues at the Celtic Conference of pharmacists from Northern Ireland, scotland and Wales in Cardiff. Her subject was to have been building the pharmacy team of the future.
Instead, just a matter of weeks into the top job, Cathy Harrison and the whole profession found themselves on the front line of the unprecedented Covid-19 crisis, prompting changes not just to the way community pharmacists work but also leading to much greater recognition that pharmacists and their teams are an essential pillar of our health and social care service.
6 - PHARMACY IN FOCus
‘Across Northern Ireland in recent weeks there has been an awakening of pride in community pharmacy,’ she told PiF, ‘and that has been echoed by widespread public gratitude and praise. Pharmacists and pharmacy teams have risen to the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic and have been recognised, quite rightly, as frontline heroes.
‘I am very proud of the contribution that each and every person involved in community pharmacy has made to maintain the supply of medicines to patients and the public.
‘sadly, I know it has been an awful time for many people and I would like to extend my sympathies to all those who have lost loved ones under these difficult circumstances.
‘When I was appointed as Chief Pharmaceutical Officer at the start of January, I couldn’t possibly have anticipated that the health service would be faced with responding to a global pandemic within a matter of weeks. Nor could I have imagined the impact that Covid-19 would have on us personally and professionally, with many of our lives changing almost overnight.
‘In Northern Ireland, the surge in public demand for medicines occurred very quickly and by the middle week in March our community pharmacies were dealing with an unprecedented volume of prescriptions. At the same time, compliance with social isolation and high staff absences were adding to the challenges. I was also receiving worrying reports of both staff abuse
and of high levels of anxiety among pharmacy owners and their staff.
‘It was clear that a number of decisions needed to be made very quickly to support community pharmacy. My goals were to maintain the supply of medicines to patients and the public, and to protect pharmacy staff. These have remained my goals throughout the whole challenge.
‘A series of steps were taken including fast interventions to improve cash flow, and additional funding for staff and to pay for adaptations to premises to impose social distancing. New opening hours were introduced to allow more time for staff to meet the workload demands and to have a much needed lunchbreak. Personal protection
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