During 2022, the four most senior pharmacists working for the UK governments, their Chief Pharmaceutical Officers, established “the UK Commission on Pharmacy Professional Leadership”.
The commission has been referred to as being an “Independent” exercise, however it has been funded and communicated via the NHS, and the four government CPhOs have not only decided to have a commission, they also
- selected the members of the commission, including the recently retired former CPhO for England.
- were advisors to the commission.
- took part in the commission’s meetings.
The CPhOs are also the designated recipients of the commission’s recommendations in a final report presented to them in December 2022. The PDA expect the commission to report publicly in the near future.
In its formal consultation submission to the commission, the PDA welcomed the discussion and looked forward to hearing the outcome, but included some concerns about the exercise.
The PDA made its submission public and for reasons of transparency invite all those who contributed to do the same, or for ease of exercise, encourage the commission itself to share all submissions it has considered. In a future where the established pharmacy bodies will need to work more closely together, it would be good for each to understand each-others standpoint.
At the time of this member update, the PDA does not yet know what this commission will recommend. However, the PDA believes that whilst the professional leadership function in pharmacy is in need of some urgent attention and a reset, it reminds the government that it does not own the pharmacy profession, and it should also recognise that through the NHS, it is the largest employer of pharmacists. It is inevitable that because of these responsibilities it will inherently have objectives its own and should therefore be mindful of potential conflicts that may potentially exist.
That said, any contribution to a discussion about the future of pharmacy professional leadership from the government/NHS is to be welcomed, but it must ultimately be for pharmacists to decide the future of their professional leadership.
The PDA wants to continue hearing from its members with comments and ideas about the future of the profession’s leadership. To share any comments, please email the PDA at policy@the-pda.org.
Read More:
- PDA response to the Commission
- PDA called for clarity on Commission
- Responses received from Commission Chairs on eve of survey closing:
Not yet a PDA member?
If you have not yet joined the PDA, we encourage you to join today and ask your colleagues to do the same.
Membership is FREE to pharmacy students, trainee pharmacists, and for the first three months of being newly qualified.
Read about our key member benefits here.