Co-creation discussions are an important step towards a future model for collaborative pharmacy professional leadership

By Sir Hugh Taylor, Independent Chair of the UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board

On Tuesday 10 June 2025, I once again had the pleasure of chairing a thoughtful and constructive meeting of the UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board – our sixth quarterly meeting.

The Board’s latest meeting statement provides the detail and I wanted to share a few thoughts from my perspective as Independent Chair.

The important news is that our work as a Board to foster greater collaboration in pharmacy professional leadership (PPL) has taken a helpful step forward in the establishment of a Co-Creation Liaison Group involving Board members and leaders from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS). The Board agreed the group should meet regularly from July 2025 with a view to:

  • Enabling interaction and transparency between the RPS and the Board in respect of the RPS’s development of the proposed Royal College of Pharmacy – to help inform decision-making and to ensure all the pharmacy professional leadership body (PLB) and specialist professional group (SPG) Board members are sighted and informed on developments.
  • Providing a forum for open discussion between PLBs and SPGs on how to make progress collectively in co-creating the future form and function of PPL in the UK, including the implications of any future change for individual organisations.


Terms of reference for the group will be agreed; and it will report and provide advice to both the Board and the RPS. The wider Board will continue to provide challenge and to be responsible for steering the transition to a sustainable and effective structure of PPL across the UK.

The RPS expressed its unanimous support for the proposal, which it views as a constructive and necessary next step, and stated it was committed to working with the Board to progress this at pace. The power of this is that over the next period it will enable transparency around the work and liaison group members will have the chance to discuss and develop ideas without commitment or prejudice.

I hope this provides greater clarity to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians about where our work is heading. Co-creation is our guiding principle. While we do not yet have a final blueprint – nor should we at this early stage (and indeed there are many possible options, and the process is likely to take a great deal more time) – the Board has a collective understanding that any future model must reflect the full breadth of the pharmacist and pharmacy technician professions. The new liaison group will also ensure that the constituent members of the Board – the PLBs and SPGs – have an opportunity to feed in the views of their members, enabling a broad and inclusive conversation that truly reflects the diversity of our professions.

The terms of reference and a joint Secretariat will keep the work on track and make sure it fits with our other Board workstreams.

I’m delighted to say the Board also approved the final Vision and Common Purpose and this has been formally adopted by all the PLB and SPG member organisations. It’s a great piece of work and is a bold commitment to future collaboration which will help us to guide our next steps on co-creation. If you haven’t already read it, please do and share it with your networks.

I also want to highlight the latest meeting of the Pharmacy Stakeholder Forum, which continues to demonstrate the value of engaging across the entire pharmacy ecosystem. The Forum welcomed the development of the Vision and Common Purpose for collaborative PPL, and it also challenged us – rightly so – to extend our engagement beyond those already involved in professional leadership.

I’m pleased to say that the next phase of our engagement will directly address this point. Beginning with a series of ‘Meet the Board Members’ webinars in July and September, we want to hear your views and answer your questions so we can better support the co-creation of the future model for PPL. Please do register to join a webinar:


We’re particularly keen to hear from pharmacy technicians, community pharmacy professionals, colleagues in Northern Ireland, and those not currently affiliated with any professional leadership organisation. These voices are essential for co-creating a professional leadership model that is truly representative.

Because, sadly, I’m stepping down at the end of September, after two years in the role – and stepping back from public life generally – I also want to assure everyone that this work will continue to be supported. An advert for the Independent Chair role will shortly be shared via our communications channels.

Thank you to all who have contributed so far. We are stronger for your input, and I look forward to the next steps over the coming weeks before I chair my final Board meeting in September.