ABSTRACT
The world is changing for community pharmacists. Community pharmacists see their future in terms of involvement in patient care, coupled with a high level of service. They are likely to work within or adjacent to general practitioner's (GP's) surgeries, or to be sited within large stores or supermarkets. Community pharmacists can provide a resource for helping them to achieve the goals, and this was one of the recommendations of the Joint Working Party on the Future for Community Pharmacy in 1992. A few years ago, when the author worked in West Sussex, the Family Health Service Authority (FHSA) was keen to encourage links between GPs and community pharmacists. One of the main outcomes observed was an increase in the number of patients referred by the pharmacist to the GP, and by the GP to the pharmacist.
