Organised by FIP’s Community Pharmacy Section, in collaboration with the Social and Administrative Pharmacy Section

Chairs

Lars-Ake Söderlund (Apoteket AB Healthcare, Sweden) and Timothy Chen (The University of Sydney, Australia)

Introduction

A pharmacy strategy should describe a future in which pharmacist services, as an essential part of a people-powered, integrated model of care, are delivered in innovative ways, across a broad range of settings, so that all patients and customers have equitable access to medicines and health care services.

Although the pharmacist workforce is highly qualified, their skills remain underused in the wider health setting. Yet good evidence shows that making better use of these skills will improve health outcomes and make the use of medicines safer.

The aim of a strategic pharmacy plan is to unlock pharmacists’ full potential so that they can deliver maximum value to the health system and contribute to the objectives of a country’s health strategy.

Pharmacists are an integral part of most people’s experience of health care, both in the community and in hospitals. However, the current system in many countries does not make the best use of pharmacists’ unique skills. Although many of their roles focus on supplying medicines, pharmacists also have the skills to help people use medicines safely and effectively and to reduce medicine-related harm. They can contribute much more in these ways if we make better use of, for example, the pharmacy technician workforce.

Seeing pharmacy as much more than the traditional model of supplying medicines, this session looks at successful pharmacy plans that describe a range of services that pharmacists could provide across a range of settings, including, but not limited to, community and hospital pharmacies. The plans offer an opportunity to define the direction for these services over the next five years, and set priorities for actions that can be implemented at national, regional and local levels. More importantly, it signals the intention to make the most of pharmacists’ skills for the benefit of all citizens.

This application-based session reveals the success stories behind these plans, and “how to make it happen”. As such, it will provide a tool box for participants, in developing similar plans and strategies in their respective countries.

Programme

Learning Objectives