Commenting on the results of the General Election, RPS Prsident Professor Claire Anderson said:

"It's fantastic we now have two pharmacists elected to Parliament. I would like to warmly congratulate Taiwo Owatemi, former Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Pharmacy, who has retained her seat in Coventry North West, and welcome community pharmacist Sadik Al-Hassan, who is now MP for North Somerset. We look forward to working with both of them.

“The future of our health service has been at the forefront of the election campaign and, amid workforce shortages and medicines supply issues, the new Government must turn its attention to enhancing patient care in a health service under continued pressure,.

“Pharmacists will be central to reducing health inequalities, managing the growing cost of long-term conditions, and delivering best value from medicines for patients and the NHS.

“As pharmacists are asked to do more, this must be backed by sustainable funding, and I look forward to working with the Government on how to make the best use of pharmacists’ skills to benefit patients, including through the growing number of pharmacist prescribers.

“The Health Select Committee set out clear priorities for pharmacy in its latest report and I would urge the new Government to act on its recommendations."