Abstract/Summary

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a transmittable infection caused by a new coronavirus. The virus has been transmitting in the community and within families, including in the UK, and was categorised as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. In the UK, the government’s aim has been to reduce the rate of virus transmission so that it takes place over months rather than weeks. This is to prevent the health services from becoming overwhelmed with multiple cases needing treatment all at the same time. The government’s meaning of ‘health services’ in this context, certainly at the start of the crisis, is the care given in hospitals by nurses and intensive-care specialists. And in the community, mitigating the impact of COVID-19 has to date focussed largely on general practitioners (GPs). This is unsurprising to those in the pharmacy profession who have long considered policy makers to overlook them. Yet, community pharmacists, a vital part of the health workforce and trusted by many people6, are also facing huge additional pressures because of COVID-19 and struggle to highlight their plight. This article considers the work pharmacists have been completing on their own, not necessarily with government support.