Pharmacists are the unsung heroes of the NHS

Everyone knows that the nation’s pharmacists are the unsung heroes of the British health care system. For minor ailments they are the ideal answer to our needs, being able to dispense commonsensical advice and over-the-counter medicines efficiently. For years they have taken much of the strain away from GP surgeries and even accident and emergency departments. They have listened patiently to the hypochondriacs, the people with flu, upset tummies and trapped wind, and dealt with them while other healthcare professionals get on with saving lives and treating more serious illnesses.

So we should be grateful that the NHS is at last starting to recognise the pharmacists’ role, and adding on-site pharmacists and therapists to reformed and expanded GP surgeries. It is all about making the best use of the resources we have available, and, as has become increasingly apparent, the NHS is finding it difficult to keep up with the needs of an ageing population, more demanding patients, and advances in drugs and other, sometimes expensive, technologies. The plan to offer longer consultations with GPs where necessary will have much more chance of success if the GPs’ time and energy is focused where it is needed most, and that is usually not in prescribing aspirin or lemsip.

Simon Stevens, the NHS’ chief executive, who has reputation for honesty in a world of spin, has admitted that patient satisfaction levels which had “slowly eroded” over the last decade, and has pledged to recruit many more GPs to the front line of British healthcare. We should make the most of them.