When we first developed the concept of Healthy Living Pharmacy (HLP) and evolved the quality criteria there was no Quality Payment Scheme (QPS). Pharmacy contractors and local commissioners chose to invest the time and energy because they saw it as the right thing to do.

HLP’s roots are in change management and organisational development – developing workforce capability, ensuring premises and facilities are fit for purpose and engaging with the community to deliver consistent high quality health and wellbeing services alongside the provision of our core pharmaceutical care services.

When QPS came into the contractual funding as a public health quality mark it was inevitable that some would treat it as a tick box exercise, opting for the cheapest possible solution such as online training to meet the criteria without considering or understanding the benefits it could bring to their business or the local population.

Developing any business requires creating and sharing a vision, taking your team with you through effective leadership, engagement and empowerment, understanding local needs and aligning a business plan to those needs.

The true benefits can only be realised if the action plan to implement and build on the foundations of HLP is joined up and reaches into the hearts and minds of the whole pharmacy team to achieve the required changes in behaviours. Only then can we live and breathe the HLP ethos and make every contact count for a healthier future.

So when looking at you business and the challenges you face, please consider carefully whether you are just ticking a box with HLP or whether you really want to transform your pharmacy business to become one that is fit for the future by taking the right approach and working with the right people to help you get there.