Pharmacy On The Move Brings Honest Conversations About AI, Workforce Challenges and the Future of Community Pharmacy
Yesterday’s Pharmacy On The Move event in Glasgow brought together pharmacy owners, managers and teams for a morning of practical discussion around some of the biggest operational and cultural challenges currently facing community pharmacy.
What stood out throughout the event was the openness in the room. Rather than polished theory or distant strategy, conversations focused on the realities pharmacy teams are dealing with every day, including workforce pressure, compliance, training demands, AI adoption and creating workplaces that genuinely support people.
One of the strongest themes across the day was artificial intelligence and how pharmacy teams can adopt it responsibly. Morgan O’Neill of Thorntons Law explored both the opportunities and risks AI presents for community pharmacy, highlighting how intelligent systems could support dispensing accuracy, automate repetitive administration and improve operational efficiency.
At the same time, there was clear recognition that pharmacies are working with highly sensitive patient data, meaning governance, transparency and oversight cannot become afterthoughts. Discussions around GDPR, the Data Protection Act and the evolving Data Use and Access Act 2025 reinforced that AI adoption in healthcare has to balance innovation with patient trust.
The audience poll responses reflected this tension perfectly. Delegates highlighted hopes around “streamlining”, “capacity release” and “improved clinical safety”, while concerns centred on confidentiality, misinformation, integration risks and overreliance on technology. It summed up the current pharmacy mindset well, optimism mixed with understandable caution.
Neurodiversity in the workplace formed another major part of the event, with Amy Jones from Thorntons Law delivering a practical legal overview that resonated strongly with attendees. The session explored how neurodivergence can present in the workplace, the responsibilities employers hold under the Equality Act 2010 and the importance of reasonable adjustments.
Importantly, the discussion moved beyond legislation and focused on culture. Delegates discussed the difficulties many employers face in identifying when support may be needed, especially when individuals have not formally disclosed a condition. Poll responses highlighted ongoing challenges around awareness, consistency and understanding.
Practical examples of workplace adjustments generated strong engagement, including clearer written instructions, quieter spaces, flexible working arrangements and one-to-one support structures. There was a shared feeling in the room that pharmacy workplaces are becoming more aware of neurodiversity, but many leaders are still searching for confidence and guidance on how to support teams effectively.
Training and compliance also featured heavily during the event, particularly around increasing regulatory pressure across community pharmacy. Rhys Martin of Numark Membership shared insight into current inspection trends, including the statistic that over 16% of community pharmacy inspections over the last year resulted in “Standards not all met” outcomes.
The recurring areas identified for improvement included SOP compliance, safeguarding and information governance training, responsible pharmacist records and wider team learning and development.
This linked closely with another audience discussion point, the growing challenge of maintaining meaningful staff training in already stretched pharmacy environments. Delegates openly acknowledged that training is often “the first thing to slide” when workload pressures increase. Concerns around engagement, retention of learning and creating structured development opportunities were recurring themes throughout the day.
Yet despite the scale of the challenges discussed, the atmosphere remained positive and constructive. Attendees repeatedly referenced the value of shared experiences, practical learning and honest conversations with peers facing the same operational realities.
Community pharmacy continues to operate in a rapidly changing environment where expectations keep rising while capacity often feels stretched to its limit. Events like Pharmacy On The Move matter because they create space for operators and teams to step back from the dispensary for a few hours and discuss what the future could look like, not only technologically, but culturally and professionally too.
If there was one takeaway from the day, it was that pharmacy is moving forward, carefully, thoughtfully and with a clear understanding that people, patients and teams still need to remain at the centre of every decision.
