A CONSTANT IN
Alness Pharmacy in the Scottish Highlands played host to First Minister, John Swinney, and local MSP, Maree Todd, in the run up to the recent Scottish Parliament elections.
The pharmacy has become a consistent presence in the community and a key point of continuity for patients, with the local GP practice operated through 2C arrangements, and often reliant on locum GPs.
The team at Alness Pharmacy has stepped in to help support access to healthcare, making full use of the whole team. Pharmacist independent prescribers and a well trained support team, all work together to ensure patients can still access timely advice, treatment, and onward referral where needed. The visit was an opportunity to demonstrate how the model works in practice to the First Minister and to give a real insight into the day to day role of community pharmacy in supporting local healthcare needs.
“The main aim was to give a clear and realistic picture of the work the team is doing day in and day out. That included not only the volume of work, but also the clinical complexity that is now routinely being managed within a community pharmacy setting,” said Superintendent Gary Buchanan.
“We wanted to highlight how accessible pharmacy is for patients. In many cases, patients can walk in and be seen quickly, which plays an important role in improving access to care locally,” he said.
They also discussed the importance of the wider team and ongoing workforce development and the impact that could have on ensuring the medicines supply process remains safe and efficient, while allowing pharmacists to spend more time on patient facing clinical care.
“More broadly, it was about demonstrating the value community pharmacy can bring as part of the wider healthcare system, particularly in supporting patients in a familiar and accessible setting,” said Gary.
COMMUNITY CARE First Minister’s Visit to Rural Pharmacy
“We talked through the core responsibilities of the pharmacy, including safe supply of medicines, clinical advice and treatment of common conditions but also how the role has developed significantly in recent years. We explained that we are now regularly managing increasingly complex presentations, often balancing clinical decision making alongside maintaining safe workflow, supporting the wider team and ensuring robust governance processes are followed.”
To bring this to life, staff shared some real practice examples including an elderly patient who presented with a concerning lesion on the back of her neck. She had difficulty providing a full history, but the team recognised that the presentation was not routine and had concerns. They were able to use telehealth to obtain a second opinion from a consultant dermatologist and then ensure that the patient was referred appropriately for further investigation and management.
Another example was a patient who presented with a sudden onset of hearing loss. The pharmacist identified this as a potential red flag, was concerned about sudden sensorineural hearing loss and acted quickly by initiating high dose steroid treatment and arranging referral to ENT services.
“We also discussed how, in some cases, elements of care have been delivered through private services where appropriate, which allowed us to explain the difference between what is currently available within existing service frameworks and what community pharmacy teams are capable of delivering in practice,” said Gary.
The First Minister also heard about the branch’s newly qualified independent prescriber, Katy, who has brought experience from mental health and secondary care into community pharmacy, reflecting the strength and potential of the evolving pharmacy workforce.
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“It was a very positive visit. There was clear appreciation for the work being carried out by the team and interest in understanding how community pharmacy operates in practice. There was also engagement around the accessibility of pharmacy services and the role they play in supporting patients within the community. It provided a useful opportunity to raise awareness of the breadth of care that can be delivered within a pharmacy setting,” said Gary.
There was clear appreciation for the work being carried out by the team and interest in understanding how community pharmacy operates in practice...
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