Jodie Williamson, pharmacist at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, takes a look at how the role of pharmacists has changed over the 70-year history of the NHS

WITH all of the celebrations taking place this month, here at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Wales we’ve been looking back at how pharmacy has changed in the 70 years since Aneurin Bevan launched the National Health Service.

It’s hard to believe the changes that have taken place in that time.

In 1948, if you walked into a community pharmacy you would likely find the pharmacist making up tablets, powders, lotions and ointments – their interaction with the patient would simply be to provide them with the medication.

These days you will still get your medicines, and the advice you need to take them safely, but you are also likely to get your flu jab, a blood pressure check or support to stop smoking, to name but a few services.

We now have much greater interaction with patients and are an easily accessible healthcare professional at the heart of the high street.

This increase in patient engagement hasn’t just taken place in community pharmacy, the role of a hospital pharmacist has also changed drastically.

In 1948 the pharmacist was unlikely to be seen on a ward and was mainly concerned with the supply of medicines.

Now, they are an integral part of the multidisciplinary team that looks after every patient, and are clearly visible on most wards throughout the day.

You may even come across a pharmacist running a clinic in their specialist area. These pharmacists are often able to prescribe new medicines for you or stop existing ones that are no longer appropriate.

Not only has the role of the pharmacist changed over the past 70 years, but so has the technology that we use. In 1948 all labels on dispensed medicines were written by hand.

They didn’t even include the name of the medication that you were being given, they would simply say “the tablets” or “the mixture”.

Now all labels are computer-generated and must, by law, include the name of the medicines, the form it takes (such as tablet, capsule or liquid), and directions on how to take it.

We are even seeing pharmacist training where avatars are being used to represent patients.

Even in the 10 years since I qualified we have seen big changes to the profession.

When I first started my career there were very few, if any, pharmacists working in doctors’ surgeries, but now most practices across Wales will have a pharmacist employed for at least one day a week.

We also have pharmacists working within the NHS 111 service providing out-of-hours care – a service that didn’t even exist 10 years ago.

Pharmacy has come a long way over the last 70 years and I look forward to seeing the changes the next 70 years bring.