The thorny issue of leadership

The issue of leadership in the profession continues to challenge us and all eyes are on the emerging new professional body to find the answers. There is much debate about the structure and function of the body and a general desire for it to be as strong a voice for pharmacists as the BMA is for doctors.  I wonder if the secrete to success lies more with individual pharmacists than with the structure and function of the new body.  What do doctors do better than pharmacist? – They get involved.  This is well illustrated by the huge number of responses by individual dispensing doctors to the Pharmacy White Paper consultation – compared to responses by individual pharmacists.  And the dispensing doctors turned out in force to the DH’s public consultation workshops on the White Paper.  By contrast, nearly all the pharmacist representatives were there as part of their jobs or duties as elected members of pharmacy organisations .  One could argue that there was a lot at stake for the doctors but is this not also the case, and maybe even more so, for pharmacists?

Of course one of the biggest obstacles for individual pharmacist to attending such meetings is time.  To give up a day’s work is a big “ask” for independent pharmacy owners and employees alike.  There is little or no protected time for CPD let alone for involvement in consultations.  But I can’t help thinking that if we all took a little time to get a bit more involved in the politics of pharmacy, by responding to one question in a large consultation document, by informing the elected leaders, in a couple of sentences, of how we feel about issues like workforce pressures, or by voting at Council and Board elections,  pharmacists will become a stronger force irrespective of the structure and function of their new body .