Appearing on the STV News at Six commenting on graduate unemployment

Last night on the STV News at Six, across most of Scotland, I made a brief appearance in a report complied together by political editor Claire Stewart where I commented about graduate unemployment. If you weren't able to catch the news last night or didn't see it online then the report features in the programme through this link, approximately nine minutes into the programme. 

Claire interviewing me

So far, I've had quite a strong response from friends and family about my appearance last night. And thanks to the bulletin last night, its no secret now that I have struggled in recent months to find any work as a pharmacist and I'm now opening the doors to many other options. You cannot blame me really. Even as little as two years ago nobody in pharmacy really thought such a scenario would play out for many pharmacists, particularly the newly qualified ones. But how things have radically changed now and its unfortunate that such an employment crisis now exists. But its really important that nobody specifically should be blamed and that a way forward should be sought to fix this situation and prevent it from happening again.

The last thing any unemployed individual wants to do is to become inactive. That will lead to the unemployed individual falling behind everyone else in the jobs market and will damage their chances of achieving employment again.

I certainly don't regret taking part in the report. It is a major issue for pharmacists across the UK as well as Scotland and I'm definitely not the only one who is struggling. The jobs supply is running dry everywhere, regardless of where you are located.

Myself and STV cameraman Matt

I'm delighted that for the first time in a long time that this particular issue was highlighted on a major national news bulletin, because it will raise awareness of the problem in the public domain and, hopefully, lead to positive solutions in the not too distant future which will end the scandalous occurrence of unemployment for a profession which up to now has recorded impressive levels of employment statistics for pharmacists across these islands. I have no doubt that politicians, stakeholders within the profession and healthcare in general will have been watching last night's bulletin.

And don't forget that its not even just unemployed pharmacists who are affected. There are pharmacists out there who have found work but are not getting enough hours - they are underemployed. But for other pharmacists, they are very lucky people. And by all means have earned their success.

But I'm afraid ladies and gentlemen leads to one more strong point from me. And some of you won't like to hear it but if anything really irritates me then its when I hear someone, who is employed and in work, posting a status or tweet on social media showing feelings of negativity about the fact that they are working. Frankly, its offensive because whilst there are many talented, motivated and keen individuals out there really pushing to find work, it makes me sick to my stomach when I hear someone casually say how they aren't looking forward to going to work. Being grateful for what you have is key in life and remember that there are people out there who would love to be in the employed position like those who are lucky enough to be in work. Having said that though, I do understand that work isn't stress-free. Nobody likes stress and that's totally understandable. And not every place of work is a pleasant place either - there may be many underlying issues that exist which cause the feelings of negativity. I do understand such issues exist, so don't think I'm being unreasonable when I've made the points in this last paragraph.

The Scottish and UK governments have taken measures which have demonstrated that they are aware pharmacy graduate unemployment exists and needs to be tackled urgently. Later on this year the Holyrood government will hear a review carried out by Dr Hamish Wilson, with assistance from Professor Nicolas Barber of the University of London, about aiming to enhance the role pharmacists role in healthcare provision. I will be anxiously awaiting the results of this review and no doubt I'll report on it when it gets published, God willing.

Meanwhile, it was an absolute pleasure to be interviewed by a top class journalist who undoubtedly I'm a big fan of. I remember Claire Stewart from my university days as she was originally based at STV in Aberdeen. But now she's moved on to being political editor at STV in the central belt and no doubt will flourish in her career.

Matt, Claire and I

I also want to mention brilliant STV cameraman Matt who it was a pleasure in meeting as well for filming the images for the report. I don't think people behind the scenes get enough credit for the work they do in producing those programmes for the viewing public. Their job is much harder than people think. They've got to get the camerawork done perfectly and also ensure that it is done at a high quality to ensure any content created for broadcast is suitable to be broadcast.

And finally, Claire's final words in the report may well have struck a chord with many out of work. But lets just hope that, with time and action, we will see many people, undeservedly out of work, back into work and being successful once again.