I suddenly realised that I hadn’t given them as much as a scintilla of thought in the last few years. Just as important, I hadn’t actually given them any money. For decades, the annual draw was an institution. The form arrived with the PSI renewal. Every year I would fill in my direct debit mandate, send it off, and forget about it. Within that routine transaction there was a feeling that I had played a very small part in a very important function. Most of us will never come across the Irish Pharmacy Benevolent Fund, except as an organisation that’s looking for your help. Yet, we all know that it is a critical part of the pharmacy infrastructure in this country. The reality is, sometimes, pharmacists fall on difficult times. These can be related to financial, health or any item of a whole host of challenges. These can suddenly appear, putting people in extremely vulnerable and difficult positions.

Any society can be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable. Pharmacy is no different. Within the broad church that is pharmacy in Ireland there are a few certainties. The most obvious being that the profession is, almost by definition, a fairly isolating one. Most of us practise in pharmaceutical silos. We may have one or two colleagues that we regularly interact with, but beyond that, unless we make the effort, we don’t tend to meet our colleagues. We only have a few opportunities to interact on a routine basis.

It’s funny, I was reflecting on how I used to regard the in-person CPD lectures as a bit of a pain. Having done a full day’s work, I suddenly had to remove myself from the comfort of the sitting room. Often on a miserable winter’s evening, I would heading to a hotel to be lectured at, frequently by some very interesting people. But of course, there was another side to this CPD. I got to meet colleagues. I met people that I don’t meet from one end of the month to the other. We would catch up on gossip, compare notes, grumble. The important thing is personal contact. While most meet people at work, it is different. Our peers give a distinctive dimension to conversation. We are all facing similar challenges, so it is great to have different perspectives.

There is a vicious irony in the observation that as the world becomes more connected, individuals appear to be heading in the opposite direction. Social media has become the opposite. It has become anti-social, keeping people superficially connected but physically isolated. Sometimes it is even more directly toxic. We know that a key component of both happiness and longevity is human interaction. While you shouldn’t need justification for meeting colleagues, it is good for you. The Benevolent Fund is more than an organisation providing financial support, it is a friend. However, it is struggling. It is eating into its reserves. It needs volunteers. It needs money. It needs you. Please take a moment to decide how you can help.

Talking about the Benevolent Fund has once again focussed me on the role of the IPU. It is also a peer support organisation. The purpose of any union is to represent its members to achieve best outcomes. It Is the original “does what it says on the tin”. There is no doubt, in common with many similar organisations, that it has gone through its challenges in recent years. Yet, people should never lose sight of the fundamental self-evident truth. Any union is only as good as the inputs that it gets from its members. As a democracy it has a very simple, one vote, one person system. Community pharmacy has changed enormously since the foundation of the IPU. Large and small chains now coexist with symbol groups, representing the vast majority of the current membership. We have been blessed with incredible leaders over many years, often volunteering in low-profile, but high-impact roles. Sometimes they made decisions that we may all not agree with, yet, it has always been through a structured approach. We are existing in extremely challenging and really interesting times. Never before have we had such a need for a coherent and cohesive approach towards our profession. We are laying the tracks on which the train of community pharmacy will travel for the foreseeable future. It is so critical to get on board. It is worth repeating the maxim, we will either hang together or swing separately.

Pharmacy Benevolent Fund

Further information on the Pharmacy Benevolent Fund is available at pharmacybenevolentfund.com. The adjacent QR code will take you to an iDonate page, at which you can donate to the Fund.