This year’s Ask Your Pharmacist Week will take place 7-14 November, with the theme More Than Medicines.

AYP Week, which is organised by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), provides a platform for pharmacy public awareness activities across the UK.  It also serves as a prompt for conversations with key stakeholders at a local level about community pharmacy services. 

Activities taking place during AYP typically include:

•  Visits by Mayors and MPs to pharmacies
• Public exhibitions (in libraries, shopping centres, sporting venues and town halls)
• Pharmacists on local radio and columns in local newspapers
• Window displays in independent pharmacies
• Pharmacists presenting to local community groups
• NHS commissioners, pharmacy students, health charities and others support the week on social media – all encouraging people to make more and better use of their local pharmacies.

NPA Head of Communications, Stephen Fishwick, said: “This year, the NPA intends to put a fresh gloss on last year’s Medicines and More campaign.  In particular we will raise the bar on previous AYP campaigns in terms of the digital assets to support the initiative. Social media will play a bigger part than in years past.  The theme is deliberately broad, to give maximum flexibility for pharmacies and pharmacy stakeholders to focus on local priorities.”

NPA members will be able to access posters, template social media posts, infographics, video assets, template local newspaper columns, PowerPoint presentations, talk notes for community talks and other resources.  Other supporters of the initiative, such as Local Pharmaceutical Committees, will also have access to relevant campaign resources, including materials for public exhibitions.