Wednesday 25th September is World Pharmacists Day. This year's theme is: Meeting global health needs. 

The health challenges our world faces are increasingly international and multidimensional, and the importance of ensuring good health and strong, sustainable health systems in every country, eliminating health inequities, was highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, more countries and organisations have now developed new global health strategies, setting out urgent current and future challenges, such as lack of access to health care, shortages of healthcare professionals, antimicrobial resistance, climate change and air pollution. 

Some of the solutions proposed by these strategies, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, are: strengthening health systems (including improving access to primary health care), preventing health risks, and preparing for and responding to health crises. Pharmacists serve as integral members of healthcare systems, playing a vital role in meeting health needs.  

Hospital pharmacists are a vital part of the healthcare team. Working in either the NHS or private hospitals, being a hospital pharmacist means you’re part of a team where the focus is firmly on patients. Teamwork, multidisciplinary working and communication skills (with patients and staff) are absolutely essential.

Working in hospital pharmacy is a varied job with a wide range of tasks for pharmacists. For example, direct patient involvement to ensure medicines are prescribed correctly and optimised for the individual patient as well as managing timely and safe discharge medication.

There are also more strategic roles ensuring the safe use of medicines throughout the Trust, evaluating medicines, developing protocols and managing supply. This is a very hot topic currently due to the many national shortages of medicines. Our role is to ensure this does not result in patient delays or patient harm and providing information on medicines to staff and patients.

The career pathway for a hospital pharmacist is outlined below. Have a read to see what specialisms pharmacists focus on throughout their career.