Miles Briggs MSP on workforce pressures, pharmacy first and investing in Scottish pharmacy

We were delighted to be joined by Miles Briggs MSP on the PIP podcast. Miles is a Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party MSP for Lothian. He is involved in quite a number of cross-party committees and notably for pharmacists he a member of the Health and Sport Committee. You can find out more about Mile’s voting record, his recent speeches, recent questions that he has asked of the Scottish government and recent motions he has brought forward here.

The conservative party in Scotland have created a five-point plan aimed at supporting pharmacy north of the border and this informed a portion of our conversation.

Miles was also was good enough to tell me about his background. He was quite candid about how to cope with the day to day rough and tumble of being an MSP.

We discussed the thinking behind running the medicines review in Scotland. Miles is involved in this process as a member of the Health and Sport Committee.

I asked him about the role of pharmacists in the modern NHS and where he felt the future lies for our profession. We agreed that for the first time in years there are pressures on pharmacy from a workforce perspective. He revealed that he recently asked a question to Jeanne Freeman about how this issue can be addressed and hopefully solved.

I asked Miles directly if the Conservative party in Scotland managed to get into power would they invest in community pharmacy. Miles discussed his frustration around the lack of information sharing and particularly told me his strong view that pharmacists should have access to all the patient information that they require. For community pharmacists, this specifically means joined-up information technology and ensuring community pharmacists get access to the patient record.

For years community pharmacists have been supporting people who are in recovering from substance misuse. Miles discussed his views in this area and talked about the need to recognise community pharmacists particularly as unsung heroes in this area.

We got some insight into the vaccine transformation programme happening across Scotland. Miles is an advocate of community pharmacy extending what they currently deliver in the flu vaccination space but also talked about the need to include pharmacy in the wider discussions on the vaccine transformation programme.