On 10 April, Catriona Sinclair FRPharmS, Scottish Pharmacy Board Member, joined the First Minister and Minister for Drug and Alcohol Policy, Maree Todd on a visit to a Community Pharmacy in Alness in the Scottish Highlands.

The First Minister and Minister for Drug and Alcohol Policy Minister were both very positive about the role of community pharmacists in the heath and care system; and asked insightful questions about access to pharmacy and broader questions around workforce development.

On the visit, both Ministers had the opportunity to speak with the Community Pharmacy Team at Alness, including pharmacy owner John, and independent prescriber, Katy. They were also joined by Gary Buchanan, an Advanced Clinical Pharmacist.

Ms Todd, who is a pharmacist, explained how the new accreditation system being developed by Royal Pharmaceutical Society would give pharmacists a development pathway that would support service delivery.

Ahead of the Scottish Parliamentary election on 7 May, RPS has set out four main calls for the next Scottish Government to action on behalf of pharmacists and patients across Scotland.  These are:

• Ensure that pharmacists in all care settings have read and write access to an integrated digital patient record.
• Improve national workforce planning for pharmacy.
• Enable a more sustainable approach to medicines.
• Ensure time for learning and development for all pharmacists to support workforce development and enable safe delivery of services.

Speaking about the Ministerial Visit, Catriona said:

“Today was a good opportunity to advocate on behalf of pharmacists and patients and demonstrate to the First Minister the fantastic work which pharmacists are engaged in within communities across Scotland, but particularly in remote and rural areas such as across the Scottish Highlands.

“It was encouraging to hear the First Minister and the Minister for Drug and Alcohol Policy speak so highly of community pharmacy teams. I was especially pleased that there was recognition of the role of RPS in developing the new accreditation system and how this would support access to services for patients.”

You can read our full manifesto, here: https://www.rpharms.com/scotland2026manifesto