In Pharmacy Awards

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England's chief pharmacist presents the 2015 Independent Pharmacy Awards

Dr Keith Ridge (pictured), chief pharmaceutical officer at NHS England told winners and guests at the London Waldorf on October 2 that they were at the Independent Pharmacy Awards ceremony to celebrate great practice by independent pharmacy and he offered his congratulations to the winners.

He had noticed several themes:

• Seven day services (a topical subject, and rightly so)
• Prevention being better than cure
• Integration of care within and across professions
• Helping people in the community who were experiencing difficult times (for example patients with cancer)
• Caring for vulnerable patients (those in care homes, for example)
• The importance of the whole pharmacy team working together
• The importance of utilising the skills and leadership of individual staff
• Working effectively and efficiently to create and develop a good business.

What was that all about? The clue was in two words: €community€ and €pharmacy€. It was about practising pharmacy excellently, with compassion and €doing that for the benefit of individuals and the local community€. It was also about serving those communities through the values, skills and commitment of the pharmacy profession, working closely with patients, the public and across the professions.