Community Pharmacist

A community pharmacist works according to legal and ethical guidelines to ensure the correct and safe supply of medical products to the general public. They are involved in maintaining and improving people's health by providing advice and information as well as supplying prescription medicines.

Community pharmacists also sell over-the-counter medical products and instruct patients on the use of medicines and medical appliances. Some pharmacists will also offer specialist health checks, such as blood pressure monitoring and diabetes screening, run stop smoking clinics, weight reduction programmes and are able to prescribe as well as dispense medicines.

There are increasing opportunities available for pharmacists to work in local health care centres and GP surgeries.

Employment

The majority of community pharmacists in the UK work in large, multiple retail chains or independent pharmacies of various sizes. The remainder are employed by small or medium-sized chain stores, GP surgeries or health centres.

Typical employers include supermarket chains and leading high-street pharmacies.

Search our pharmacy vacancies here.

Some pharmacists set up their own business. The advantages of self-employment include professional independence and personal satisfaction. However, setting up a business is a costly process and it may take extra hours of work in the initial stages, and possibly many years before loans are paid off and a financial return is seen. The introduction of the 100 hour pharmacy has made it easier to open a new pharmacy; however as a new business it can be difficult to compete with established pharmacies and may also be difficult to recruit staff to work unsocial hours.

Career Development

Promotion in pharmacy will usually involve management of specific service areas, such as managing staff other than pharmacists, including accuracy checking technicians, pharmacy technicians, and sales assistants. Typical job titles include Pharmacy Manager, Pharmacist in Charge, Duty Pharmacy Manager and Superitendant Pharmacists.

It is possible to move between the different branches of pharmacy, so you may want to consider working in a hospital setting or as an industrial pharmacist.

An increasing number of pharmacists are working in GP surgeries and health centres. This will involve advising on the best use of medicines, working as part of a multidisciplinary healthcare team, becoming involved in the work of a primary healthcare trust (or the equivalent in Scotland or Wales) and a lot of patient contact. Clinical or practice pharmacy is one of the fastest-growing specialisms in the profession.

Some pharmacists choose to set up their own business, preferring to make their own business decisions and take control of their working life and environment. This requires a degree of business acumen and involves responsibility for:

• accounting procedures;
• staff recruitment and training;
• negotiating and influencing;
• marketing.

Community pharmacists can also move into careers in scientific writing, publishing and consultancy including recruitment and training. Complementary medicine and animal medicine are expanding areas in pharmacy.

Typical work activities

Community pharmacists work at the frontline of healthcare providing an increasing range of services. Typical work activities include:

• dispensing prescription medicines to the public;
• ensuring that different treatments are compatible;
• checking dosage and ensuring that medicines are correctly and safely supplied and labelled (pharmacists are legally responsible for any dispensing errors);
• supervising the preparation of any medicines (not all are supplied ready made-up by the manufacturer);
• keeping a register of controlled drugs for legal and stock control purposes;
• liaising with doctors about prescriptions;
• selling over-the-counter medicines;
• counselling and advising the public on the treatment of minor ailments;
• advising patients of any adverse side-effects of medicines or potential interactions with other medicines/treatments;
• preparing dosette and cassette boxes, usually for the elderly but also for those with memory/learning difficulties, where tablets are placed in compartments for specified days of the week;
• undertaking Medicine Use Reviews (MUR), an advanced service to help patients understand how their medicines work and why they have to take them;
• providing a prescription intervention service;
• managing a needle and syringe exchange;
• dispensing emergency hormonal contraception;
• measuring and fitting compression hosiery;
• monitoring blood pressure and cholesterol levels;
• offering a diabetes screening service;
• providing pregnancy testing;
• arranging the delivery of prescription medicines to patients;
• overseeing the ordering and safe storage of medical products;
• maintaining computerised records;
• managing, supervising and training pharmacy support staff;
• selling healthcare and other products, such as toiletries, cosmetics and photographic items;
• budgeting and financial management;
• promoting sales and developing the business;
• keeping up to date with current pharmacy practice, new drugs and their uses.

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