By Neil Trainis

Nine candidates are running for election to the PSNC committee as non-Company Chemists’ Association multiple representatives, including members of the National Pharmacy Association and Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies.

Four NPA members, Jay Badenhorst, Hamish Borno, Chiman Patel and Mayank Patel, are contending for the three places available on the Committee while other candidates running for election include Peter Cattee, Has Modi, Rajesh Morjaria, Jay Patel and Ian Strachan. 

The non-CCA multiple pharmacy contractor election is open to contractors who operate pharmacy businesses from more than nine premises in England or are members of AIMp. Voting closes at 12 noon on March 24 and the results are expected to be announced on March 27. The term of office for all PSNC members is four years.

Strachan, a former NPA chair who resigned from its Board in October last year over concerns about the organisation’s direction of travel, owns three pharmacies and appears to be running as an AIMp member.

In a recent interview with Independent Community Pharmacist, he said he did not believe the PSNC was a strong enough body with the right people in place.

“Personally, no I don’t (think so). I’d like to see a big shake-up in terms of its representative board and a conviction coming through. Don’t get me wrong, there are some very good people there and I probably know all of them," he said.

“But I do think it’s time for change. We need to understand what we stand for, what our values are, what our purpose is and we need to rally around that.”

Meanwhile, elections for the four PSNC regions have also started. In the East of England, Junchao Jiang, Anil Sharma and Babatunde Sokoya are running while the candidates in the North-West are Ian Cubbin and Fin Mc Caul.

In the West Midlands, Len Dalton, Sundip Gill and Jas Heer are running for election and in the North-East, Sami Hanna and Sunil Kumar are the contenders.

The PSNC will be rebranded as Community Pharmacy England from April 1 and its committee will contain 24 members. The members of CPE's subcommittees will be drawn from the committee and will advise on policies as well as monitor the performance of the committee. The subcommittees will also make recommendations to the committee.

There are six sub-committees; funding and contract; legislation and regulatory affairs; LPC and contractor support; resource development and finance; service development; and communications and public affairs.