Pharmacy is not exempt from these changes, with a 48 per cent rise in the number of prescriptions over the past 10 years, but only an 18 per cent increase in the number of pharmacies. More regulation and legislation is affecting you; patient and customer expectations are increasing, as are those of the people who contract health and public health services.

Funding challenges are around the corner, with more threatened for the future in a healthcare system that is imploding from increasing demands from a growing and ageing population resulting in significant gaps in financial sustainability, quality and care, and health inequalities.

Yet what has really changed within pharmacy? The average pharmacy is still largely dependent on NHS prescriptions for its revenue, but this income stream is becoming less profitable and
is under threat as distribution channels evolve.

We remain in a silo on the outside edge of an increasingly integrated health and care system. The benefits of EPS and SCR access are still to be fully realised and we continue to operate with a historical skill mix.