The role of technology in shaping the professional future of community pharmacists: the case of the electronic prescription service in the English NHS

Information and communication technology (ICT) has been extensively proposed in the last decade as a means to reform, modernize and reshape national health systems around the globe. If it does these things then it will inevitably change work practices, and may thus have longer term consequences for health care professions. This paper considers how ICT may shape the professional future of community pharmacists drawing from ongoing research into a national project in England to establish the electronic transmission of prescriptions between doctors and pharmacies. The project illustrates how technology opens up various possibilities that may influence pharmacists’ professional standing by shaping their work practices, jurisdictions, roles, values, power and boundaries. The aim here is not to evaluate these subtle and contradictory changes, which are in the future, but to develop an appropriate analytical framework, and to contribute to a debate concerning the role of technology in shaping professional futures.