Matt Hancock’s evidence to the Covid-19 Inquiry this week sent an all too familiar shiver through the spine of everyone in community pharmacy.

For so many of us, Mr Hancock's admission that community pharmacies were an ‘afterthought’ during the pandemic sums up how we feel about the state of our sector today.

He said NHS England has an ‘inbuilt lack of enthusiasm’ within NHS England senior management to give more to the sector than is absolutely necessary, and for paying pharmacies for our service.

For so many of us, it all feels disappointing, disheartening and, sad to say, rather familiar.

He told the inquiry: ‘My sense was also that the system was not looking after community pharmacists enough… They evidently were an afterthought as far as the system was concerned’.

We in pharmacies stayed open, putting ourselves and our teams at risk in order to provide a vital service to our communities

While Mr Hancock’s testimony confirms that community pharmacies were accorded lower priority than other parts of the NHS, I know that while much of the health service struggled to keep their doors opened and everyday services going, we in pharmacies stayed open, putting ourselves and our teams at risk in order to provide a vital service to our communities.

Let me say it. I know that many people within the NHS, and within government, know all about community pharmacy and fight tirelessly inside the Whitehall machine to improve what we can offer.

Sadly, though, for us on the NHS frontline, it too often feels like we are a bit forgotten. Or even dismissed as shopkeepers rather than highly experienced and dedicated health professionals.

We have a new-ish government that says all the right things about moving care into the community, about the historic underfunding and undervaluing of community pharmacy and about the importance of our work.

All of us are enthusiastic about this new agenda, which ought to open up exciting new possibilities for us and the communities we serve.

But we also have a system that hasn’t yet sorted out funding for the current financial year, let alone into the future, and has imposed big new costs on us in the Budget. That leaves us nervous for the present and the future. And, let’s be honest, a little bit dispirited.

It’s about recognising the vital role of community pharmacies in our nation’s healthcare – respect as well as remuneration

This isn’t just about funding or resources – although let’s not forget that hundreds of pharmacies have closed in the last two years alone; for some colleagues it is about whether they can stay open or whether they need to close for good. It’s about recognising the vital role of community pharmacies in our nation’s healthcare – respect as well as remuneration.

We were here for people during the pandemic. We are here for people during this autumn’s vaccination and winter illness season. We plan to be here for the future and do much more for the people who are our neighbours, our patients and our friends.

The contrast with other healthcare systems around the world can’t be ignored – in so many countries they are investing in their pharmacy sectors and taking advantage of the clear opportunities that a local, trusted, reliable, expert and accessible service can provide.

Here, however, we’re campaigning for our survival. We’re being strident when we actually want to get on with what we love doing and what we and our teams are best at.

Let’s hope the politicians make good on their rhetoric and treat us like a full partner in the local health care network, with the attention, funding and investment that requires. That will do more than make me feel better, it will be great for the health of all our communities, which ultimately, we are all fighting for.

Olivier Picard is vice-chair of the National Pharmacy Association and owner of the Newdays Pharmacy Group in Berkshire