The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has launched a manifesto with key asks of the next government to improve access to safe and effective NHS care for patients and support the pharmacist workforce.

The PDA describes its manifesto as “a call to action for the next cohort of MPs to embrace pharmacists’ unique position within the healthcare system”.

The manifesto emphasises the need for a sustainable NHS, investment in the workforce, integration across the system and effective governance.

Specifically, the PDA is asking the next government to prioritise patient safety around medicines, and to keep the NHS free at the point of use, including the abolition of prescription charges in England. It also calls for a zero tolerance approach to violence and abuse in pharmacy.

The manifesto calls on the next government to recognise pharmacists' clinical knowledge and expertise in medicines, and draw on those skills to deliver acute care, support people living with long term conditions, and ensure that patients are not harmed by the effects of over-prescribing.

It also calls for pharmacists to be provided with the digital infrastructure to integrate with other healthcare settings and deliver patient-centric care, and asks that the pharmacist workforce is recognised at government and system level through existing legislation around social partnerships and fair work.

The PDA calls for investment in the pharmacy workforce, with funding for staffing ringfenced to address workplace pressures and burnout. It also wants to see access for pharmacists to high quality learning and development in protected learning time, like other healthcare professionals, and pharmacist undergraduates given access to the Learning Support Fund.

The PDA is urging pharmacists to contact candidates and ask them to show their support for the pharmacist workforce, and to highlight pharmacists’ work in the local community to candidates.