Since becoming Minister of State for Care shortly after the July 4 General Election I have been clear that we must get our primary care sector back on its feet and delivering for patients by delivering three fundamental strategic shifts: from hospital community, from sickness to prevention, and from analogue to digital.

Pharmacies are a vitally important part of the primary care sector, and we know that we will only be able to get primary care, and indeed our entire NHS back on its feet and fit for the future, if our pharmacy sector is firing on all cylinders and operating at the heart of the three strategic shifts.

Sadly, that is clearly not the case today. Fourteen years of neglect and incompetence on the part of consecutive Conservative administrations have left our NHS broken and the pharmacy sector in a fragile state, with thousands having been forced to close over the past decade.

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Primary care is the front door to our health and care system, so it’s vital we get it right. I know you are ambitious for change, and that you are very keen to make better use of your skills, to better your communities. You have shown time and again how you can deliver, and we are determined to provide the support you need. 

Recently, I had the privilege of attending the Pharmacy Business Awards and delivering the keynote speech. I spoke to key industry leaders, listened to their concerns,  shared their frustrations, as well as their determination to make pharmacies fit for the future.

I can assure you that I am committed to ensuring that pharmacists can work to their full potential, we must unlock your skills and enable you to deliver more for your patients and communities. This includes increasing the number of pharmacists able to prescribe medication independently.

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We have to be open and honest about the state of the health and care system that we inherited on 4 July, because clarity about the scale of the challenge is a pre-requisite for clarity about the scale of the ambition that is needed to recover, reform and re-build. 

Which brings me to our Ten Year Plan that will launch very soon in the shape of a national conversation about how patients, staff, pharmacists, pressure groups and everyone who cares and wants the best for our country can come together in a to re-think and renew our health and care system. 

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I hope pharmacists will take the opportunity to share their views and experience, and I would strongly encourage the readers of Chemist and Druggist to get involved. As pharmacists, you have a vital role to play in delivering that vision, particularly through our plans to improve access to community care.

Achieving the three fundamental shifts will take time, and it won’t be easy. But I am in no doubt that together we can deliver the changes that will alleviate pressure on community pharmacists and enable you to provide even more for patients, through a properly integrated primary care sector.

This government will listen, will engage, and will ensure your voice is heard once again.

Stephen Kinnock is minister of state for care, encompassing pharmacy minister, at the Department of Health and Social Care