So I thought I would add to this blog, as I travel along on the journey as proposed by the new UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board.
I’m not going to reinvent the wheel by reposting some of the background (or the politics) around the formation of this board – so I suggest you pop along to the UK-PPLAB (my accronym) for further information here

Interestingly they had their first board meeting on the 23rd April 2024 – and it was only today (11th May 2024) during a brief X (Twitter) exchange with a board member that I realised that a statement had been issued about the meeting.

Can I just state that the board deserves a better and perhaps it’s own website to keep Pharmacy Professionals informed about its work and progress. I appreciated that the focus has been on getting “something” setup and running, and admirabily the NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit stepped up to the mark and get them off the ground, but perhaps there is a need for something a little more – now the board is in progress.

Anyway – back to the statement – which is a document that needs to be downloaded to read, rather than a specific web page, which I’ve edited into this page (document downloaded 11/05/2024 – 17:29).

I’ve read the brief statement, and it looks to be a strong start in terms of scene setting, focus on the time available (3 years), and perhaps some ‘quick wins’ in terms of getting tangible outputs from the work of board members.

Some key points from my personal perspective are;

• Declaration of Interests Register – a start to an open and transparent way of working.
  We need to know the backgrounds and current connections to ensure any bias can be challenged if needed.
• Terms of Reference Agreed
• Communications and Engagement
  This is a key one – there is no value in the board embarking on a journey that pharmacy professionals aren’t informed of and invited to participate in.

Today was the last day of Clinical Pharmacy Congress, and board members had the opportunity to present to congress on these “early days” of development. Sadly I missed the opportunity, but it was slightly disheartening to see the audience, in the majority, feel that they were un-informed about the board – which is a stumbling block that most Professional leadership Bodies encounter.

But I am actually optimistic, that the high level sponsership of this board, and the ex-officio membership will develop and enhance the profile.

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UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board First Quarterly Meeting – Statement

3 May 2024

The first quarterly meeting of the UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board (UKPPLAB) took place on Tuesday 23^rd April 2024. The Board is chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor and involves:

• 9 Ex-Officio Members
• Patient and Public Reference Group Chair
• 10 Independent Expert Members (IEMs).

Further details and biographies are available.

Board members gathered for a photograph at the first meeting: on this occasion, apologies were received from Nonyelum Anigbo, Jeanette Dickson and Shilpa Shah, and the IEM appointment for Scotland is in process.

Observers at the formal Board meeting were: Andrew Evans, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Wales; Liz Fidler, Senior Professional Advisor Pharmacy Technician Practice; Cathy Harrison, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Northern Ireland; Michaela McAleer, Chief Executive, Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland; Matt Morfey, Policy Manager (Pharmacy), Department of Health and Social Care; and Duncan Rudkin, Chief Executive, General Pharmaceutical Council.

Introduction

1. Independent Chair Sir Hugh Taylor welcomed Board members to the first meeting with a challenge, encouraging them to be ambitious and asking: What does good look like in respect to professional leadership? In the three-year lifespan of the Board, there is an opportunity for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to work together to create a new model for professional leadership, one to which other professions may aspire. This is the purpose and goal of the Board and will enable pharmacy professional leadership to re-invigorate its purpose, collaborate to develop a stronger and more united voice for pharmacy professionals, and increase engagement and representation by demonstrably delivering on what is required by professionals.

• The Ex-Officio organisations, represented by their President (or equivalent), will be leading this change, supported by the Independent Chair, Patient and Public Reference Group Chair and IEMs who are there to provide both challenge and support for the changes that will be required.

Board set up

• The Board has been established by the UK Chief Pharmaceutical Officers as the vehicle for greater collaboration across the UK pharmacy professional leadership bodies (PLBs) and specialist professional groups (SPGs) over a three-year period, following the recommendations of the UK Commission on Pharmacy Professional Leadership’s report, published in February 2023. Setting up the Board is an important initiative that will further enable and empower the PLBs and SPGs to shape and lead the future for the pharmacy professions.

• The IEMs, who applied following a UK expression of interest advert, were selected by an interview panel comprising:
• Sir Hugh Taylor, Independent Chair
• Liz Fidler, Senior Professional Advisor Pharmacy Technician Practice, NHS England
• Cathy Harrison, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Northern Ireland
• Dr Marina Soltan, Clinical Fellow, Medical Directorate, NHS England and Honorary Academic Respiratory Registrar, University Hospitals Birmingham and University of Birmingham
• David Webb, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England.

• IEMs will play a pivotal role in shaping and supporting the Board’s work. These appointments also help to ensure the Board is broad, balanced and comprised of appropriate diversity. Crucially, to ensure independence, IEMs will not be on a board or governing body, or be an executive, of one of the PLBs and SPGs that has an Ex Officio Member of the Board.

• The role description for IEMs outlines how they are expected to:
• Provide leadership, support and guidance to the organisations involved and enable collaborative delivery of the UK Commission’s recommendations and the Board’s remit in respect of effective pharmacy professional leadership.
• Draw on their particular areas of leadership expertise and credibility demonstrated through lived experience which can be applied in one or more of the following areas:
  • Leadership, policy and professionalism
  • Regulatory support
  • Professional education and training
  • Regional, country and international relations and engagement
  • Scope of practice of future pharmacy professionals.
• Provide constructive challenge and feedback to bring an independent perspective to the Board’s work.
• Ensure the Board functions and acts in an inclusive manner, and delivers in the interests of patients and the public.

Outcomes of the Meeting

Register of Interests

• The Board agreed to maintain and publish a Register of Interests, which draws together Declarations of Interest made by members of the Board. At the start of each Board meeting, members of the Board will declare any relevant interests, and these will be included in the Minutes.   

Terms of Reference

• Members agreed the Terms of Reference of the UKPPLAB. These confirm the Board’s role comprising two key tasks:

• To develop and oversee a three-to-five-year work programme to implement the five key recommendations of the UK Commission.

• To support and steer the transition to a sustainable and effective structure of pharmacy professional leadership across the UK.

Ways of Working

• Members highlighted the way in which the Board conducts its business, and adopting and modelling good leadership behaviours as Board members, are as important as what the Board does to further enable and empower the PLBs and SPGs to collaborate to lead the future for the pharmacy professions.

1. On openness and transparency, it was agreed that a statement should be published as soon as possible after each Board meeting, setting out the proceedings of the meeting and conclusions reached. This would support timely communications by the PLBs and SPGs with their respective organisations and beyond. The meeting minutes would be published subsequently, following ratification at the next Board meeting.

1. On succession planning, in the duration of the Board – initially three years, with an option of extension – changes to the presidents (or equivalent) of the PLBs and SPGs can be expected. It would be the responsibility of the Independent Chair to support and enable effective handover processes for Board members, where necessary, to facilitate the smooth functioning of the Board and relationships with the PLBs and SPGs.

Work Programme

1. Informed by discussion of the UK Commission’s recommendations, it was agreed that groups of Board members would initially develop outline proposals for discussion and consideration by the Board at its next meeting in July 2024 on Professional Education and Training, Scope of Practice for Future Pharmacy Professionals, and Regulatory Support. The Commission’s recommendations on Leadership, Policy and Professionalism and Engagement would be progressed by the Board as a whole in due course.

1. The aim of the current work is to identify two or three priorities which will address the leadership challenge in respect of each recommendation, which will then be developed as full proposals for discussion by the Board at future meetings. The July statement will provide an update on progress. Proposals agreed by the Board would be implemented by its Ex-Officio members, with the Board and its Secretariat providing support, advice and oversight.

Communications and Engagement

1. The approach to communications and engagement was discussed to enable the Board to:
   1. Communicate the Board’s work programme, advice and achievements to pharmacy professionals and the wider public/community
   1. Support the development of an authoritative voice for pharmacy professional leadership
   1. Involve pharmacy professionals and patients/the public, and ensure their views inform the work of the Board
   1. Work with its constituent pharmacy PLB and SPG members.

1. The Board agreed the establishment of a Pharmacy Stakeholder Forum which will be set up immediately. It will meet twice a year to provide input to the Board’s work programme and will be chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor. Its membership will be UK-wide and include:
2. Regulators
3. Education bodies
4. Trade bodies
5. Special interest groups and other representative bodies
6. Negotiating bodies
7. Trade unions.

1. A Patient and Public Reference Group will also be established to ensure the work of the Board is properly informed by the patient and public perspective. This will be chaired by Board member Joan Saddler OBE, Co-Chair of the NHS Equality and Diversity Council. Its membership will be UK-wide and include:
2. Key national patient representative bodies
3. Large patient charities
4. Senior patient and public involvement leaders
5. Patient representatives recruited via an Expression of Interest process.

Background   Establishment of the Board as the vehicle for greater collaboration across the UK pharmacy professional leadership bodies (PLBs) and specialist professional groups (SPGs) over a three-year period initially was the principal recommendation of the UK Commission on Pharmacy Professional Leadership’s report, published in February 2023. Setting up the Board is an important initiative that will further enable and empower the PLBs and SPGs to shape and lead the future for the pharmacy professions.   Following the Commission’s report, the Chief Pharmaceutical Officers for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have taken the required steps to constitute the Board as an independent, advisory public body and establish a clear remit for its work.   Now that the Board has been established as an independent public body, the CPhOs, have stepped back to become its advisors and the Independent Chair is taking lead responsibility.   As the independent UK Commission report outlined, there is an urgent need for the pharmacy professions to work collaboratively to deliver on their potential, and address together a wide range of professional issues. These include the development of independent prescribing as part of the initial education and training for pharmacists, with thousands of newly-registered pharmacist independent prescribers joining the workforce every year from 2026, and an expansion of the clinical role of pharmacy technicians. It will be important to build and maintain the confidence of professionals and the public in these new roles and competencies.

Contact: england.ukpplboard@nhs.net