Professionalism in testing times

Thank you for the care you give to the people you serve. Providing safe and effective care whilst managing lots of different risks must be a big challenge at the best of times, and never more so than when faced with a novel public health threat (COVID-19) which is dominating the headlines, the airwaves, social media and many day to day conversations. As a vital and accessible public service, pharmacy is in the frontline of public concern as well as patient need.

Just as our standards for pharmacy professionals ask each of you to take a person-centred approach to your work in pharmacy, so too do we aim to take a person-centred approach to our regulatory work. This includes recognising the challenges you face and the sometimes very difficult context in which many of you are operating. This is why we have joined forces with the regulators for doctors, nurses and a range of other health and care professionals in re-affirming our shared commitment to a proportionate and contextual approach to how we regulate, on a day to day basis.

At the same time, in a practical way, we want to support you by providing useful links to key sources of authoritative advice and guidance, which you need to be thinking about when working out how best to uphold your own professional standards and look after your patients, whilst also holding understandable concerns you may have about the safety of yourself, your family and your team. So please read Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19).