Community Pharmacists: Your critical partner in the future of healthcare
Recognising the importance of community pharmacy in strengthening health systems
by Edwin Panford-Quainoo, Senior AMR Technical Advisor and Grace Grange, Research Officer
As healthcare systems continue to face unprecedented challenges, the role of community pharmacists has never been more important – or more overlooked.
The global strain on secondary care, sharply intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, has shown the urgent need for a shift in care delivery models. Health systems are increasingly recognising the value of transitioning from reactive, hospital-based care to proactive, community-centred prevention. This transition offers a crucial opportunity to reposition community pharmacists at the forefront of primary care, globally.
A readily available, trusted resource
Community pharmacists are among the most accessible healthcare professionals, embedded across towns, cities, and rural areas – including underserved and deprived communities. With extensive training in medicines and therapeutics, they are uniquely positioned to support safe, effective, and holistic patient care.
Unlike many other healthcare professionals, pharmacists often see the full picture of a patient’s medication history across multiple prescribers, enabling more coordinated interventions and timely advice.
In addition to their medicines expertise, pharmacists already play a vital role in prevention and self-care. Globally, they actively reduce the burden on general practice, secondary care and health systems in general through services such as:
- Medication reviews
- New medicine support
- Minor ailment management
- Smoking cessation
- Contraception counselling
- Vaccinations
- Health checks
- Lifestyle advice
An untapped asset in system resilience
Despite their demonstrated value, pharmacists remain underutilised within the wider healthcare ecosystem. Their potential to reduce pressure on hospitals and GPs is significant – particularly through point-of-care testing, early detection of disease, and management of long-term conditions.
Moreover, pharmacists have shown strong capacity to adapt and respond in times of crisis. During the pandemic, they played essential roles in medicine supply, public health messaging, and local service continuity. With better integration, their ability to support both acute and chronic care makes them indispensable partners in pandemic preparedness and future health emergencies.
Challenges and the need for change
Several systemic barriers hinder the full integration of pharmacists into healthcare planning. Funding models remain disproportionately focused on secondary care, leaving community-based services under-resourced. Community pharmacies – often privately operated – use diverse systems, making interoperability and record-sharing with private-public sector counterparts complex.
Professional silos further limit the scope of pharmacy practice. In some cases, pharmacists are excluded from roles for which they are clinically competent, due to legacy attitudes or lack of clear policy direction.
To harness the full potential of community pharmacists, coordinated action is required:
- Policy reform to prioritise and invest in community-based pharmacy services, especially in the area of emergency preparedness.
- Digital integration to enable seamless communication and record access across settings.
- Public engagement to elevate understanding of the pharmacist’s role beyond dispensing.
- Workforce collaboration to break down silos and foster inter-professional respect.
Empowering pharmacists is not just about relieving pressure on other parts of the system—it is about strengthening the overall resilience, accessibility, and equity of healthcare. As we look toward the future, community pharmacists must be recognised as core contributors to prevention, care continuity, and system sustainability.
About the authors
Edwin Panford-Quainoo
Senior Antimicrobial Resistance Technical Advisor, Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship
Edwin has worked as a pharmacist in Australia, Ghana and England, gaining substantial management experience through his work in community, hospital and industry sectors. He is a Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England’s Global Health Fellow who has provided pharmacy leadership across various projects, including the Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship (CwPAMS) programme.
As Senior AMR Technical Advisor for CwPAMS, Edwin collaborates with the AMR Technical Lead to provide expertise on antimicrobial stewardship and AMR initiatives delivered in-country.
Grace Grange
Research Officer
Having started her career as a community pharmacist for three years, Grace then transitioned into public health, managing the Health Protection Programme for a Local Authority in the United Kingdom. In this role, she led on outbreak response (including COVID-19), improving immunisation uptake and sexual health, and addressing inequalities.
Grace works part-time for the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association in the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning team, where she has worked on a report for ‘Actionable Solutions to Tackle Workforce Challenges and the Climate Crisis’, as well as engaging with national pharmacy associations around their views on pharmacists’ role in pandemic preparedness.