Letter from Chief Pharmaceutical Officer Alison Strath

Published: 24/12/21

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland has written a letter of thanks to CP teams across Scotland thanking them for the contribution made by pharmacy teams during what has been an exhausting 21 months.

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Dear colleagues,

As we come towards the end of 2021, I wanted to take the opportunity to let you know how immensely thankful I am to all pharmacy teams across all sectors of the NHS. I have never been more proud of the contribution made by pharmacists and pharmacy teams during what has been an exhausting 21 months.

Each of you have reduced the impact of the pandemic on your local communities and I am aware of the toll has had and that the continued support of colleagues has been essential in these difficult times. The collective effort by you all on behalf of your patients and wider public has been nothing short of extraordinary.

I know we were all hoping that COVID-19 would be less dominant across health and social care services as we move into the New Year, but the Omicron variant is clearly going to put a great deal of pressure on services and all health and social care professionals.

The vaccination programme, and booster vaccines in particular, remain our best countermeasure against this variant and I would encourage those of you who have not yet made arrangements to receive your booster vaccine to visit NHS Inform and book your booster vaccine as soon as possible - Coronavirus (COVID-19) booster vaccination | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot). This is the best way to keep you, your family, your colleagues and your patients safe.

In addition, to strengthen the reach and impact of our ongoing activity, the Scottish Government is launching a focused #BoostedByTheBells campaign from December 26 to increase the uptake of the booster vaccine in the last days of 2021. I would really appreciate your support from 26th to 31st December to help encourage as many people in Scotland as possible to come forward to get the booster.

As we head into 2022 and a New Year in which we will no doubt face many more challenges, I want to reiterate my unwavering confidence in you all and again my ongoing thanks for all that you continue to do to provide pharmaceutical care services to your local communities.

Thank you.

Alison Strath Chief Pharmaceutical Officer

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