Meaningful adoption of our vision and common purpose will enable a positive outcome

By Sir Hugh Taylor, Independent Chair

It's heartening when a collective effort leads to a tangible outcome. In our recent Board meeting on 11 March 2025, we heard the results from the 10 ‘Big Conversation’ webinars held throughout February. The feedback involved more than 5,600 responses from pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, patients, the public and the wider UK pharmacy team on what should be included in a new vision and common purpose for future pharmacy professional leadership which the Board is developing.

Having considered and discussed the feedback as a Board, the eight professional leadership bodies (PLBs) and specialist professional groups (SPGs), which are Ex-Officio Board members, will now prepare to launch a final version of the commitments to you, as a framework for their ongoing collaborative pharmacy professional leadership across the UK.

They will continue to be supported by the 10 Independent Expert Members of the Board who are contributing their leadership knowledge and expertise to ensure we get this right for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

The vision consists of five themes, which we consulted on:

Co-creating unified, effective and inclusive leadership
Collaborating to achieve shared objectives
Enhancing advocacy and public awareness
Embracing advancements in practice to benefit patient care
Prioritising education, innovation and research.

We were encouraged by the openness and thoughtfulness of the conversations across all 10 webinar events, and the obvious appetite for a more cohesive, ambitious and collaborative way of working in future. There was significant support for a stronger and more unified voice for pharmacy; a call to ensure that leadership is inclusive and representative of the whole pharmacy team; and a desire for a values-led approach to be adopted emphasising credibility, openness, transparency and fairness.

Participants across the UK told us what was important to them:

On collaboration, they wanted aligned objectives, shared resources and a reduction in duplication to drive improvements to patient care and outcomes.
On advocacy and public awareness, they highlighted the need for professional leadership organisations to focus on working with the public to educate about the breadth of pharmacy team roles, and to achieve greater influence with Government, regulators, employers and other stakeholders.
On advancements in practice, they wanted their professional leadership to become leaders in improving equitable care for patients, as well as access to opportunities for professional fulfilment to enable future proofing for their careers.
On education, innovation and research, they asked for more support – career frameworks, guidance, training, funding – and they wanted education and research to be incorporated into their roles as part of their practice to help make pharmacy careers more attractive.

There was widespread recognition of the challenges – and opportunities – that lie ahead; and the need for adequate training and support to embrace these changes head on. And what came across very strongly was the immense pride in the standard and reach of pharmacy in the UK, and the commitment to providing the best possible care for patients.

It came through loud and clear in all the feedback we received, that what pharmacy teams do matters to you because it benefits patients and communities. They are the reason we do what we do and must remain at its heart as we move forward.

The commitments under each theme are currently being considered by the leadership councils, or equivalent, of the eight bodies, to enable formal adoption ahead of publication in June.

Pharmacy professional leaders will need to ensure that the commitments are more than just words, that as we move forward they are made meaningful for members including, I hope, all those who make the choice to become members of a professional body as a result.

From June the PLBs and SPGs will take the vision and common purpose commitments on the road, to team meetings, conferences, events and other forums, speaking to people, engaging with professionals, and promoting the importance and benefits of professional leadership to everyone.

Of course, by then we will know the result of the vote on the creation of a Royal College for Pharmacy – which will be announced later this month – and the next steps towards co-creation of the future with Board members. Following our statement of support in early March, at the Board meeting we discussed again the opportunities the Royal College proposal presents for the pharmacy professions, to strengthen their voice, foster unity, and catalyse lasting change, really delivering on the benefits people have told us they want.

The Board also had a very positive discussion about another key piece of work – a conversation about supporting pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in developing their professional practice to its full potential. You can read more about this interesting development in the meeting statement which is published alongside this blog. As a next step we agreed to set up a Working Group and to develop real-world case studies for consideration, and there will also be an Expert Advisory Group. This work on scopes of practice will be forward looking, with the emphasis on future proofing by making them skills based.

In this endeavour and our goal of creating a sustainable and effective future for pharmacy professional leadership, let’s join together to support a positive outcome that is built on collaboration, trust, openness and excellence.