CPS Advocates for Community Pharmacy at the SNP Conference in Aberdeen
This information was correct at the time of publication. Policy and guidance can change, so please check our latest news for the current position. For anything else, please contact enquiries@cps.scot
Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) was in Aberdeen today for the SNP Conference, where Chief Executive Matt Barclay and Policy & Public Relations Pharmacist Sarah Staddon met with MSPs working in health and social care to make the case for investment in community pharmacy.
The conference marked Sarah’s first public affairs event since returning from maternity leave. Alongside meetings with MSPs, Sarah and Matt attended the Women’s Health and Holyrood Health Hub fringe events, ensuring community pharmacy’s role was firmly on the agenda. Sarah said: “It was a busy day representing Community Pharmacy Scotland, attending the Women’s Health and Holyrood Health Hub fringe events and making sure community pharmacy is part of the conversation.”
Matt and Sarah used the conference to share CPS’s manifesto priorities, Delivering healthier communities across Scotland, which sets out how pharmacy teams in over 1,200 community pharmacies can do even more to prevent, detect and treat ill health, close to home and without an appointment.
Conversations focused on the manifesto’s seven ambitions, including:
a national NHS weight loss service delivered through community pharmacy
targeted diabetes and cardiovascular screening programmes
further investment in NHS Pharmacy First Scotland, with more treatment protocols and an expanded prescribing role
a suite of women’s health services
better digital infrastructure and information sharing, including support for paperless dispensing
The Women’s Health fringe event was a particular opportunity to highlight community pharmacy’s long-standing role as the leading provider of free NHS emergency contraception, and the potential to extend services.
With 90% of adults visiting a pharmacy at least once a year, and almost 1.9 million people using NHS Pharmacy First Scotland in the year to September 2024, CPS believes the network is ideally placed to ease pressure on the wider NHS.
Watch Sarah and Matt at the conference on our YouTube channel:
Read our full manifesto at https://www.cps.scot/manifesto. MSPs who would like to see these services in action can book a visit to a pharmacy in their constituency at https://www.cps.scot/book-a-pharmacy-visit.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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Our manifesto, Delivering healthier communities across Scotland, sets out seven ambitions for the Scottish Parliament across four areas: prevent, detect, treat and infrastructure. It shows how community pharmacy teams can do more to keep people well and ease pressure on the wider NHS, with the right investment. You can read it in full at https://www.cps.scot/manifesto.
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Party conferences are a valuable chance to meet MSPs and policymakers in one place. Matt Barclay and Sarah Staddon attended to speak with MSPs working in health and social care about the role community pharmacy plays in Scotland’s health service and the investment needed to build on it.
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We’d welcome the chance to show you these services in action. You can book a visit to a community pharmacy in your constituency at https://www.cps.scot/book-a-pharmacy-visit, or contact us at enquiries@cps.scot or 0131 467 7766 to talk through the manifesto.
