Independent UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board to strengthen collaboration

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:

• Monday 14 July 2025, 6pm-7.15pm
• Tuesday 15 July 2025, 6pm-7.15pm
• Wednesday 3 September 2025, 6pm-7.15pm
• Monday 8 September 2025, 6pm-7.15pm

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.

Pharmacy professional leadership (PPL) organisations across the UK have united around a new, collaborative Vision and Common Purpose for professional leadership – one that re-energises professional leadership and supports pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and the wider pharmacy workforce.

Co-created by the eight professional leadership bodies (PLBs) and specialist professional groups (SPGs) and other members of the UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board (UKPPLAB), and hundreds of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and people working in pharmacy across the UK, the Vision and Common Purpose sets out five shared commitments to building a more collaborative, inclusive and effective model of PPL.

“We congratulate the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) and its elected representatives, staff, members and fellows on their success in securing the support to establish a Royal College of Pharmacy. It’s a moment of great opportunity and celebration for pharmacy as a whole, enabling us to move forward with greater confidence and purpose.

“The next 12 months will be hugely important for pharmacy professional leadership, requiring even more collaboration, engagement and sure-footed delivery. As a Board, we’re ready to facilitate the conversation on next steps, so we can collectively establish a sustainable and effective model of pharmacy professional leadership with a process that is transparent, inclusive, and shaped by the needs of all pharmacy professionals.

“We welcome the commitment the RPS has made already to working closely with the Board in the co-creation of the royal college and look forward to early engagement on the principles of co-creation, processes and a clear roadmap.

“We’re committed to supporting exploration of potential options for pharmacy professional leadership, taking account of the royal college development, with members of pharmacy professional leadership bodies and specialist professional groups, key stakeholders and the whole pharmacy team so there is full discussion of options.

“In particular, we’ll actively seek early engagement with pharmacy technicians, specialist professional groups and wider professional groups, so we listen to their views and questions on the future model for pharmacy professional leadership and on the implications for them of the royal college, and ensure those who have not yet had a voice in these discussions are heard and considered in shaping the future.

“It is essential that we build on this momentum, working together with trust and openness to create a strong, unified and positive voice that truly reflects the breadth of pharmacy in the UK.”

To contact the Secretariat to the UK PPL Advisory Board please email: england.ukpplboard@nhs.net

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.

The proposal to establish a Royal College of Pharmacy is an historic opportunity to raise the profile of pharmacy in the UK for the long-term. This would help to fulfil the aspirations of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and all in the UK who wish to see pharmacy realise its potential in healthcare.

It has the potential to catalyse, deepen and focus collaboration across pharmacy professional leadership bodies and specialist professional groups as we work collectively towards a sustainable model of professional leadership (which a royal college could represent if we get this right). That is one of the key missions of our Board – which includes pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and patient and public representation – which we have been working towards since establishment in April 2024. We therefore welcome the commitment of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to work closely with the Board in the co-creation of the royal college if its members support this proposal.

A positive vote is important to establish the royal college as the starting point for:

• Open discussions to support a more effective and collaborative approach to pharmacy professional leadership.
• A stronger voice for pharmacy
• More proactive and systematic engagement with patients and the public
• Enabling a step change in the collective support, development and engagement for individual professionals and the wider pharmacy team towards improved career progression and greater professional satisfaction.

The outcome of this vote matters to all professionals working in pharmacy and to the whole pharmacy team. Greater unity would ultimately deliver the stronger professional leadership voice, recognition, representation and strategic direction that we believe is needed and ultimately bring an end to division and fragmentation.

To contact the Secretariat to the UK PPL Advisory Board please email: england.ukpplboard@nhs.net

The UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board (UKPPLAB) is launching a ‘Big Conversation’ as part of a groundbreaking collaborative approach to shaping pharmacy professional leadership for the future.

‘Enabling us to be the best that pharmacy can be’ webinars will be held across the UK from 3 to 25 February 2025, giving pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and wider pharmacy team members an opportunity to have their say on a proposed vision and common purpose for pharmacy professional leadership.

To join, choose from the list of webinars below and click the link for details and to sign up. You don’t have to be a member of a professional leadership body or specialist professional group to join a webinar. All webinars are open to everyone.

Mon 3 Feb, 6-7.15pm UKPPLAB (England)

Tues 4 Feb, 12.15-1.30pm College of Mental Health Pharmacy

Wed 5 Feb, 12.15-1.30pm Primary Care Pharmacy Association

Thurs 6 Feb, 4-5.15pm UKPPLAB (Scotland)

Mon 10 Feb, 4-5.15pm UKPPLAB (Wales)

Tues 11 Feb, 4-5.15pm UK Clinical Pharmacy Association

Wed 12 Feb, 4-5.15pm British Oncology Pharmacy Association

Thurs 13 Feb, 4-5.15pm UKPPLAB (Public and Patient Group)

Mon 24 Feb, 12.15-1.30pm Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK

Tues 25 Feb, 7-8.15pm Pharmacy Forum Northern Ireland

The UKPPLAB - made up of eight pharmacy professional leadership bodies (PLBs) and specialist professional groups (SPGs), and independent expert members - was set up in response to the UK Commission on Pharmacy Professional Leadership. In a first for pharmacy, Board members are co-creating shared principles for inclusive, effective and sustainable leadership that will help enable PLBs and SPGs to meet the opportunities and challenges of the future.

“The world of pharmacy is changing at an unprecedented pace, and we believe it’s crucial to involve the whole pharmacy team in shaping what comes next for leadership of the professions,” said UKPPLAB Independent Chair, Sir Hugh Taylor.

“By hosting these webinars, we’re creating a platform where voices from across the UK can come together to give their views and ensure that vision and common purpose for pharmacy professional leadership of the future is inclusive and effective with collaboration at its core.”

The series of webinars, open to everyone working in pharmacy, will feature Board members from across the professions who will lead discussions on the vision for professional leadership and the importance of collaboration across organisations, sectors and geographies.

Joan Saddler, Chair of the UKPPLAB Patient and Public Reference Group, “I see the webinars as an opportunity to capture a wide range of views. At a time of significant planned change, where care and support closer to home will become increasingly important for patients and the public, the role of leaders working with and through communities will become even more important to patients and the public. Pharmacy leaders can help communities access services more quickly in ways that meet the needs of different communities. It's important that we hear everyone’s views. Please get involved, we need to hear from you."

Feedback from this national conversation will be considered by the Board in March 2025 and a final, updated vision and common purpose will be published in Summer 2025.

The first webinar will take place on Monday 3 February and will be followed by a series of online sessions throughout February. Participants can register for any of the webinars at https://jointheconversation.scwcsu.nhs.uk/pharmacy-professional-leadership

Comments from Board members included:
“APTUK is delighted to be collaborating on the shared vision and common purpose of the UKPPLAB and will continue to professionally lead on behalf of pharmacy technicians, ensuring parity of esteem in future-facing pharmacy strategy and workstreams.”
Nicola Stockmann, President, Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK.

“The UKPPLAB is an opportunity for our pharmacy professional leadership bodies, specialist professional groups and the wider pharmacy team to collaborate and work together for our profession and our patients. With our joint vision - which embraces unified and inclusive leadership, advocacy and public awareness and aspires to be a unified and powerful voice for our pharmacy profession – we will endeavour to co-design a shared vision for professional leadership which we are all proud of, that will enable us to be the best that pharmacy can be.”
Joe Williams, Chair, British Oncology Pharmacy Association

"Pharmacy students have a unique perspective that can help shape the future of professional leadership. By engaging in this conversation, you're not just sharing your opinion - you're helping to create a stronger, more unified leadership that will benefit patients and everyone working in pharmacy now and in the future."
Emeka Onwudiwe, President, British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association

Now is a very important time for all pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to have their say in the future of pharmacy professional leadership in the UK. I would encourage everyone to get involved in the conversation, whatever memberships you may or may not have in pharmacy leadership bodies or specialist interest groups. This is a rare opportunity to input your views into a shared, unified and collaborative voice for UK pharmacy with the aim of directly improved outcomes for patients.
Karen Shuker, President, College of Mental Health Pharmacy

"The UKPPLAB provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to catalyse real and lasting changes to pharmacy leadership across all four nations in the UK. Speaking to hardworking colleagues providing patient facing services across different settings, a commonly reported theme has been a disconnect between pharmacy leadership organisations and their working lives. We must ensure we co-design meaningful leadership and representative organisations that offer practical and accessible support for pharmacy professionals throughout their working lives. I would encourage all colleagues to engage and contribute in the coming months to ensure we create strong and robust pharmacy leadership for the future."
Graham Stretch, President, Primary Care Pharmacy Association

“The UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board is a wonderful opportunity for professional leadership bodies and specialist professional groups to collaborate and work together to support pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. Along with the help of expert members, the UKPPLAB will be ready to tackle the challenges ahead in a cohesive and effective manner ensuring all voices from the pharmacy sector are heard and empowered.”
Sheelin McKeagney, Chair, Pharmacy Forum Northern Ireland

“Professional leadership strengthens the entire pharmacy ecosystem, and this draft Vision and Common Purpose for pharmacy professional leadership, which has been developed by members of the UKPPLAB Board working closely together, demonstrates the importance of open and effective collaboration. More collaborative leadership for pharmacy is something that will benefit our organisations today and shape the landscape for years to come.”

Claire Anderson, President, Royal Pharmaceutical Society

“The future of UK healthcare is dependent on collaborative and multiprofessional working to ensure better outcomes and experience for our patients. Where better to cement this first than within our own professions? The UKPPLAB offers us a once-in-a-career opportunity to bring everyone together, with unified direction, renewed purpose, and professional standards and development that we will be proud of amongst health and care professions, and that our patients and public can rely on.”
John Warburton, Chair, UK Clinical Pharmacy Association

About UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board:
The UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board was established in 2023 to strengthen collaboration between pharmacy professional leadership bodies and specialist professional groups, enabling and supporting pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to meet the opportunities and challenges ahead.

The independent Board, chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, includes 21 members who bring a wide range of expertise and experience. Over three years, the Board will lead the implementation of recommendations from the UK Commission on Pharmacy Professional Leadership’s report, published in February 2023.

Media Contact:
UKPPLAB Secretariat: england.ukpplboard@nhs.net

Following recommendations made in the UK Commission on Pharmacy Professional Leadership report, the UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board has been set up to reinvigorate pharmacy professional leadership (PPL) and explore a more collaborative and inclusive approach for the future.

All eight professional organisations represented on the Board have worked together to draft a Vision and Common Purpose for the future of PPL. One that embodies the principles of collaboration, inclusivity and excellence, and will enable pharmacy to be the best that it can be.

The Board members will be leading a UK-wide conversation to listen to the views of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and the wider pharmacy community in early 2025 to ensure this Vision and Common Purpose is meaningful to everyone working in pharmacy across the UK. Follow us on LinkedIn for more on this.

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

Our Board meeting on 10th December 2024 provided a good opportunity to reflect on the work of the Board over the past year. We have taken important steps forward and the progress we have made is testament to our joint commitment to openness, transparency and collaboration.

This year, we have reached out to more stakeholders through the Pharmacy Stakeholder Forum and Patient and Public Reference Group. Both have provided excellent contributions to discussions and useful challenges to our work. We know that patients and the public have the potential to be pharmacy’s greatest advocates, and we are pleased the meetings have given us a sense of just how important pharmacy is to them.

The Programme Sub-Committee met for the first time in November. It has continued the work of the Board in taking forward the UK Commission's findings, prioritising work around education and training for post-registration pharmacy technicians and for newly qualified pharmacists with prescribing rights, and a fresh look at issues around professional standards and scope of practice.

We have also embraced opportunities to speak out as a collective body, responding to both the NHS 10-Year Health Plan engagement exercise for England and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s (RPS) announcement of its proposed Royal College for Pharmacy. This is something we must continue to do, to build confidence in – and an understanding of – our role as an advisory Board.

We are all committed to working together to co-create a new, sustainable and inclusive model for pharmacy professional leadership (PPL) in the future. We recognise that the RPS’s proposals are a potentially important step in that direction: enabling the RPS to create, as a minimum, a more flexible, adaptable, outward-looking governance model that facilitates future UK-wide collaboration.

That is of course a matter for RPS members to decide. But the prospect of a Royal College that seeks to represent wider pharmacy is clearly an opportunity to be bigger, bolder and more all-embracing in our approach to collective pharmacy leadership in the future. As and when that time comes, which we hope it will, it will have implications for all the pharmacy organisations on our Board – and beyond.

That is where the Board comes in. Co-creation of such a model, whatever final form it takes, is not a 'nice to have'. It is a condition of success. It requires clarity on process; opportunity for all parties to engage, contribute and agree an inclusive way forward that works for everyone; sensitivity to different national and professional interests; and the meaningful engagement of patients and the public.

All this is within the Board’s remit to promote and facilitate; and the RPS has confirmed its openness to work with the Board and all its members on this basis, as and when the time comes: an opportunity that all the members of the Board welcomed.

Crucially a future model would need to appeal to all those who have currently chosen not to be a member of a professional leadership body (PLB) or specialist professional group (SPG). Therefore, the Board’s collective job is actively to find a way to make professional leadership mean something to everyone working in pharmacy across the UK. A major development at this Board meeting was the approval of a national engagement exercise on a draft Vision and Common Purpose for PPL as a means for beginning this important piece of work.

Members of the Board’s Communications and Engagement Sub-Committee have worked together to create a proposed Vision and Common Purpose and – in a first for pharmacy – the engagement activity in February 2025 will be led collectively by the eight PLBs and SPGs. The whole approach is grounded in collaboration, and we hope this UK-wide conversation sets the tone for the wider change we hope to achieve. We look forward to hearing the feedback at the next Board meeting in March.

Collaborative leadership for pharmacy is something that will not only benefit our organisations today but will shape the landscape for years to come. Although the route is still to be determined and there will, no doubt, be bumps along the way, we must not lose sight of our destination.

As a Board, we are building trust among organisations. We are working at a good pace, focusing on the important work relating to education and training, professional standards and scope of practice, and having open and constructive conversations. I look forward to seeing how these conversations evolve over the coming months as we move towards a more unified and collaborative UK-wide future that enables pharmacy to be the best it can be, recognised nationally and internationally.

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

Our third Board meeting on 10 September 2024 was positive and encouraging and marked the beginning of discussions about creating an effective and sustainable structure for pharmacy professional leadership (PPL) – one of the two overarching functions of the Board in line with the recommendations of the UK Commission’s report.

Underpinning the work of the Board is the importance of engagement and feedback from patients and the public, a position underscored by our Patient and Public Reference Group. This diverse group of representatives attended a first meeting in August and agreed their involvement in key areas of the work of the Board.

We heard powerful presentations from the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS). The RPS outlined its intention to become a Royal College of Pharmacy, which requires a change to its current constitution and governance. This will necessitate a vote by members and approval by the Privy Council before its Royal Charter could be updated.

The proposals include becoming a charity with independent trustees on the Board, increasing the focus on patients and the public, providing greater equity to the devolved nations, strengthening and increasing the flexibility of governance arrangements, as well as enhancing pharmacy’s authority through royal college status.

APTUK presented its dynamic vision for the future – highlighting the drive for parity of esteem between pharmacy technicians and pharmacists, an approach that equally values the skills, expertise and contribution of all pharmacy professionals and the wider pharmacy team. The future shape of PPL must recognise the central importance of equality and equity – being invited to the table is important but people must also be able to meaningfully participate. Visible commitment to working practically towards shared goals in a collaborative way also requires transparency as a very important principle to which we should adhere.

Board members recognised the scale and ambition of the RPS’s proposals and that, while it is too early to explore this now, the RPS plans create the potential for and enable future collaboration across pharmacy professional leadership bodies (PLBs) and specialist professional groups (SPGs), should members wish to explore this at a future date.

Board members also supported the aspirations of APTUK and the many strengths which it clearly brings to the table. Parity of esteem is a must do. Members of both professions work closely together in teams every day of the week; and the Board recognises it has a vital role to play in reflecting that spirit of collaboration at national level: building trust through a commitment to transparency across the PLBs and SPGs, enabling them to work together to co-create the future model of pharmacy professional leadership.

It was helpful to hear of others’ experiences from Dr Jeanette Dickson, Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and a UK PPL Advisory Board member. In a valuable presentation, she covered the varied models of professional leadership among medical royal colleges and these learnings provided constructive support to the pharmacy PLBs and SPGs – which is what this Board is about. We’re here to facilitate and support, guide and advise. Decisions are made by the bodies themselves.

It will be important to think about how as a Board we can help to lay the groundwork needed for further collaboration. The two Sub-Committees we are establishing – described in detail in the September meeting statement – will play an important role in establishing working level collaboration and enabling greater transparency.

These are the first steps in a long journey but it has been encouraging to see the wealth of talent we have in PPL at our three Board meetings so far. Leaders will need to continue to step up for the greater good and pulling the strengths of our PPL together is a prize really worth working for.

In the next phase I believe the Board can really help by thinking about a vision and common purpose for PPL. As we know, values, vision and purpose are crucial to bring people together in any organisation. We shouldn’t lose sight of why we are doing this – and we should continue to engage with the wider group of people who will ultimately benefit, including patients, pharmacy professionals and other healthcare colleagues. Having a clarity of purpose will also help us deal with the knotty issues that inevitably arise as we get down to the detail.

Watch this space as we start to develop an engagement exercise which will be our next step into this new world.

UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board Statement

12 September 2024

“The UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board was set up to support and steer the transition to a sustainable and effective structure of pharmacy professional leadership across the UK over a period of 3-5 years.

“We support the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in its proposals for a new constitution and governance framework as a positive and enabling step on a journey towards the Board’s ambition.

“Successfully realising this ambition in full over time will depend on sustaining inclusive and close collaboration and an ongoing commitment to transparency.

“The Board will continue to work closely with the professional leadership bodies and specialist professional groups in co-creating the next steps of the journey to help facilitate a positive future for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and wider pharmacy teams. We encourage RPS members to engage positively with the consultation as we all develop pharmacy professional leadership in the interests of patients, the public and the professions.”

For further information: Independent UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board to strengthen collaboration | Join the Conversation (scwcsu.nhs.uk)

Contact email: england.ukpplboard@nhs.net