Cast your mind back to 1994.

Oasis had released Definitely Maybe, and everything was calm with the Gallagher brothers.

But in UK pharmacy it was all kicking off after a doctor branded pharmacists 'sewer rats' in a letter to C+D.

Not even Liam went that far.

Doctor claims pharmacists are like ‘rats from a sewer’ read the headline, before C+D went on to report that the letter-writing Dr David Roberts, who apparently did not hold pharmacists in the highest esteem, had written to C+D likening pharmacists to "rats from a sewer" for "pouring through the Clothier loophole".

The BMA chairman, Dr Alexander Macara, moved swiftly to distance the BMA from the comments, saying he was "considerably distressed and upset by both the tone and the content of Dr Roberts' latest outburst in Chemist & Druggist. I take grave exception to his actions," he said.

This ongoing tussle between GPs and pharmacists had another twist in 1994, when a report by the Audit Commission suggested pharmacists could help struggling GPs prescribe the right medicine. 

'Use pharmacists' more effectively' was the headline, and the article went on to say the “skills of community pharmacists should be used more effectively in advising CPs on drug choices."

The care of patients could be improved and up to £425 million a year released if all GPs took a more "rational" approach to prescribing, the report claimed.

 

Ding-dong

 

Meanwhile, Oasis were still arguing with other people rather than turning on themselves.

In 1995 a battle erupted with rival band Blur, as ‘Roll with it’ (Oasis) and ‘Country House’ (Blur) both aimed for number one in the charts.

Blur won, but an even bigger ding-dong was taking place in pharmacy, when the town of Berkeley descended into an ugly spat when a local doctor applied for sole dispensing rights for anyone living south of the town – an application which left the only pharmacy in the area, Berkeley Pharmacy, fuming. 

Pharmacist and GP went head to head, although Noel and Liam were still being sweet siblings. Oasis put out another album in 1995, and the following year the band played two massive gigs at Knebworth.

Happy days for Oasis, but UK pharmacy was beginning to show Oasis-like tendencies by arguing with itself. The NPA was forced to step in after the NHS granted permission for a new pharmacy in Lincolnshire to open right next door to an existing one, leaving the existing pharmacy furious.

However, by 2009 Oasis was making pharmacy look like a love-in. The band split after one argument too many. But over in pharmacy, things were looking good for the multiples as the millennium approached.

‘Multiples fuel boom in pharmacy numbers’ read the headline.

'Growth by multiple chains fuelled a rise in the total number of community pharmacies in England for the fourth successive year, NHS figures showed.

Contract numbers hit 10,475 in 2008-09, with multiples boosting market share to 61 per cent. Multiples, defined as chains of six or more pharmacies, recorded a like for like increase of 190 contracts, data revealed. Independent numbers fell by six contracts in the same period.

Overall, the number of pharmacies increased by 184. Numbers have increased year on year since 2005-06 - the same time that current contract exemptions launched.'

 

Dog-eat-dog

 

But of course, there were tricky situations emerging all over the place in pharmacy in 2009.

"Cash is a recurring theme in this week’s issue," wrote then editor Gary Paragpuri. And it wasn’t because pharmacy was rolling in it.

Elsewhere in 1989, the Conservatives were making wild claims about slashing NHS costs. Medicine shortages would get worse without government intervention, claimed AAH. But if any article in 2009 was both an accurate summation of the times and a prescient nod into the future, it was the leader article by then editor Gary Paragpuri, who wrote:

“For community pharmacy, it's a dog-eat-dog world out there. Local pharmacies see each other as competitors first and collaborators second. Therefore, the argument goes, pharmacy remains a divided sector. Yet several stories in C+D this week turn this argument on its head and demonstrate how pharmacists can work together effectively to deliver benefits both to patients and to pharmacies.”

Viva the future. What was true in 2009 is true 15 years on. Perhaps pharmacy could put its differences aside and unite, just like Noel and Liam. Especially if it also comes with a massive pay day.