Polling in the general election is just weeks away. Hung parliament, minority government, coalition or even if one party defies the polls and actually wins a majority, it matters not. The NHS has run out of money and pharmacy will have to bear the consequences of that, just like everyone else.

There is little to be optimistic about. Consider how quickly the goodwill and energy of Call to Action and the Five Year Forward View has seeped away as the health service stares into the abyss. It was certainly no surprise that, amid claim and counter-claim of 8,000 extra GPs, creeping privatisation and seven-day NHS working, pharmacy doesn’t get a single mention in either of the major parties’ manifestos – not that pharmacists are naive enough to believe anything that politicians say. Remember “no more top-down reorganisations”?

Nevertheless one thing the politicians do seem to agree on is that the problems of the NHS can only begin to be tackled with better access to primary care, more efficient use of existing resources and investing in population health. Enter pharmacy, stage right.

So, when the talking finally stops and the hot air disperses after May 7, there needs to be some big decisions made at ministerial level, regardless of who is in power. How about, for starters, immediate access for pharmacy to full patient medical records, a national minor ailments service for England and a revitalised healthy living pharmacy programme? That would get my vote.