PSNC chief executive Simon Dukes has announced he will leave his post at the end of September after just over three and-a-half years in the role.

In a message to LPC chief officers in England earlier today (July 20), Mr Dukes said he had "always planned to depart in 2022" but made the decision to step down in the autumn because an "opportunity" has arisen which he said he said he was "keen to pursue."

The PSNC told Independent Community Pharmacist that he has accepted an offer to head up a charitable organisation.

"Deciding to step down from the PSNC, especially after the last three intense and absorbing years, was never going to be easy," he said.

"Nobody can take on the role of chief executive of this organisation without being completely committed to community pharmacy and determined to see the sector flourish."

Mr Dukes was appointed PSNC chief executive in December 2017 having worked for the fraud prevention organisation Cifas and the government on counter-terrorism, cyber security and investigations into organised crime. 

In 2019 he led the PSNC's negotiation team to secure an unprecedented five-year community pharmacy contractual framework deal with the Government and NHS England, although critics said the deal represented five years of frozen funding for a sector already struggling with funding cuts. 

In a statement, the PSNC said his legacy includes improving the relationship between PSNC, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England and NHS Improvement, supporting contractors during the pandemic having agreed their Covid costs, bank holiday payments and patient delivery services and helping to start an independent review of the PSNC and LPCs.

Mr Dukes will leave when the Wright review steering group is expected to produce a set of proposals for contractors to vote on. In the meantime, the PSNC said he will lead its negotiating team's work in agreeing the terms of the third year of the five-year CPCF.

In the statement, he said it was "an honour to serve as chief executive of PSNC for the last three years and a genuine privilege to work with such a dedicated, knowledgeable and unbelievably hard-working senior team and Committee".