By Neil Trainis

The UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board, which will lead on implementing the recommendations of the UK Commission on Pharmacy Professional Leadership, has been officially launched and will be chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor.

Taylor, a former chair of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and who has also held senior roles in the Department of Health and Social Care, the Cabinet Office and the Home Office, was named as the Board’s independent chair.

The Board’s 19 members are tasked, over the next three years, with implementing the Commission’s recommendations on the direction pharmacy professional leadership should take.

Nineof the Board's members will be drawn from the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK, British Oncology Pharmacy Association, British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association, College of Mental Health Pharmacy, Pharmacy Forum of Northern Ireland, Primary Care Pharmacy Association, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, UK Clinical Pharmacy Association and a representative from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.

In a letter to the UK’s pharmacy professions, Taylor and the four chief pharmaceutical officers said the Board is also recruiting nine independent expert members to ensure it “is broad, balanced and ensure appropriate diversity”. The recruitment window closes on November 13.

“We will seek expert members able to represent the patient and public interest, with expertise in leadership, education, research and academia, as well as experience beyond the pharmacy professions,” the Board said. “The recruitment of pharmacy technicians and practising community pharmacy professionals will be addressed through this recruitment.”

Taylor, who was appointed chief negotiations adviser for the voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access in March, will advise the UK’s CPhOs on the appointment of the Board’s expert members. He said: “I am delighted and honoured to be taking on this role as independent chair. Pharmacy is an integral and vital part of our health system.

“The aim of this Board is to lead and support collaboration across the professions in the UK, so that they can look to the future with ambition and confidence and realise their full potential. That is a hugely exciting mission and one I very much look forward to supporting.”

The RPS welcomed the establishment of the Board and the appointment of Taylor. The RPS president, Professor Claire Anderson, said: “The Commission has delivered a hugely important report which sets out a clear structure for success in building an inclusive forum to develop the future of pharmacy professional leadership.

“The collaborative nature of the Board, combined with significant changes and challenges in pharmacy, means the time is right to join hands across the pharmacy professional bodies and special interest groups to develop a collective approach to leadership.

“Future scope of practice, leadership, changes to education and training, how we embed professional standards and of course the changing role of pharmacy technicians means we must all work together to achieve the transformational change needed to benefit our patients.”

The APTUK said it looked forward to working with Taylor and the other Board members and insisted it was “an opportunity for pharmacy technicians and APTUK to be an equal partner and influential in the future landscape of collaborative pharmacy professional leadership”.

The APTUK also “strongly” urged pharmacy technicians to apply for a place as a Board member “to ensure the pharmacy technician voice is amplified”.