Monthly meet-ups

Since February 2021, the Female Pharmacy Leaders Network has been running monthly, hour-long, virtual meet-ups, which are held in the evening. Members discuss all matters relating to female pharmacy professionals reaching leadership positions. 

At the network’s first meet-up, the discussion focused on the barriers the co-founders had experienced to leadership. Since then, the network has covered such topics as allyship, white privilege, black history, as well as hearing from leaders in the profession about their career journeys. 

“We have had some incredible women speakers who have talked about the barriers they have faced during their careers and how they coped with them,” says Reena. 

The network, she says, has also built up “an army of peer mentors and role models – we talk about coaching and mentoring and what we can do for each other. We are each other’s inspiration and sounding boards.

“These monthly meetings also give the impetus for people to flex their leadership muscles, to not be so doubting of themselves, and to create a change,” she says.

Promoted via social media and word of mouth, the network now has members who sit on national bodies and are from community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, PCNs, NHS England, pharmaceutical companies, digital health and more. And because the aim is to create a space that is inclusive, open and accessible to all pharmacy professionals who have leadership ambitions, network membership is not confined to women pharmacists.

In fact, professionals from all parts of the sector – including pharmacy technicians and those in hospital, community, industry, digital and research – can attend the meet-ups. The network’s ethos is that they all have ambitions to be leaders in their own right, no matter which sub-sector they are in. 

One year on…

It is just over a year since the network was set up and already it is having an impact. Joining the network has inspired several members to stand as nominees for the RPS board elections. Several women pharmacists have been encouraged to apply for the RPS expert advisory groups, one member has secured a place on the RPS Community Pharmacy Expert Advisory Group, and many members are starting to present at conferences.

Feedback about the network also speaks volumes about its value. One member thanked the founders for “hosting a special place for us all to grow, and inspire and help one another to grow – creating the environment to help us be the best we can be in all aspects of our life”.  Another writes: “Thank you for the monthly female power boost
I didn’t know I needed.”

The biggest success for us, says Komal, is when network members connect with each other. “That is what we love seeing – people building those connections and their confidence.” Already, the group’s founders are working to connect with other pharmacy support networks, including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and are looking to run collaborative events.

There are also plans to encourage more women members to lead the meet-up sessions to give them that experience of chairing meetings. 

Harpreet’s message to potential members is: “Come and be part of a supportive community where we all encourage each other to do well. Be part of a group that is not just about education – it is also about inspiration – which is what keeps us going,” she says.

And to women pharmacists who are also aspiring leaders, Komal’s advice comes from a phrase she heard at the NHS International Women’s Day event. “At times in your career you have to borrow someone else’s courage. I hope that is what we’ve been doing at our network meet-ups – giving others the courage to step up.”

References

1. General Pharmaceutical Council (2022). GPhC registers data

2. Naylor M, Pontefract S and Batchelor H (2018). Gender-balance in pharmacy: a review of the current landscape. Birmingham University