It’s worrying that colleagues tell me they are not going to hit the Pharmacy First target this month to receive their incentive payment, and that they are unlikely to hit Pharmacy First targets going forward. At least half of those consultations do not meet gateway.

I think that the payment structure needs to change so it’s achievable. Community pharmacists simply need to be paid for the work we do. This includes being paid for all the consultations we carry out, whether they meet gateway or not (or at least be able to treat the patient as a walk-in minor illness patient when they don’t meet gateway).

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Meanwhile, the Conservatives say that they want to push more funding into the service, but currently we are at risk of not spending the £645 million that has already been ringfenced for Pharmacy First. There should also be a mandate that all GPs need to send Pharmacy First referrals to pharmacy, because too many surgeries see this as an option even though they are clearly overwhelmed with workload.

Primary care includes community pharmacy as well as general practice, so why don’t we all work to our full licences and do the job that only we can do? If we take the low acuity patients, this frees capacity for general practice to take on the more complex patients.

Whatever the outcome on July 4, I hope that we will see a huge shift in healthcare for the positive. I’m not confident that there will be.

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We have a few days until we find out what the fate of community pharmacy will be following the general election. Although, I can’t help but wonder if things will be further delayed with the summer recess. Being a politician doesn’t sound too bad; you get the job, have a few days of induction and then enjoy a long holiday! If only the rest of the country could have the same perks…

We’re seeing lots of promises across various manifestos but no sight of any plans on how anybody will make those promises happen. I don’t envy the next Health Secretary because it all feels so broken. For those of you who watched the Channel 4 dispatches episode, (which featured some community pharmacists), there remains hope that things can improve and that we will still have an NHS for the next 75 years. Although, I’m not so sure.

Workforce in the NHS is at an all-time low in terms of morale. The cost of university fees is causing more people to wonder if it’s worth going into a career that is depicted so negatively in the media. Patient tolerance is also at an all-time low and they are voicing their concerns louder than ever. Patients now have better access to knowledge and to their rights.

While patients tell us in community pharmacy how they feel, many are afraid to tell GPs for fear of being struck off their list. We don’t have the bypass numbers for surgeries so we can’t get through either and we feel their pain. Many patients, often those with greater health needs than others, tell us they can’t navigate the electronic system. When will NHS England (NHSE) and integrated care boards (ICBs) take control and mandate that things need to change in the GP world and fund community pharmacy better so we can do more?

The identity of Xrayser remains a mystery, but their irreverent views are known by all. You can Tweet them @Xrayserpharmacy