Connected leadership for a royal college that serves the whole of pharmacy

The transition to the Royal College of Pharmacy is a defining moment. The royal college has committed to supporting workforce transformation, advancing excellence in patient care and creating greater recognition for pharmacy’s impact. These are the right ambitions. The question for those standing for the English Pharmacy Advisory Council is whether we can ensure they translate into meaningful change across every part of pharmacy.

I continue to practise on the community pharmacy frontline, where workforce pressures, expanding scope of practice and rising patient demand are reshaping the profession daily. These pressures are not unique to one sector. Colleagues in hospital pharmacy, primary care, research, industry and academia face parallel challenges around workload sustainability, career progression and recognition. The royal college must speak credibly to all of these communities to be a professional leadership body for the whole of pharmacy.

In my role within NHS England’s Transformation Directorate, much of my work involves bridging clinical, technical and policy teams to ensure the systems we develop address real-world challenges. As chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s digital pharmacy expert advisory group, I have worked across all UK nations with colleagues from diverse practice settings to connect innovation with frontline reality. Both roles have taught me that the best outcomes emerge when different perspectives inform the same conversation. Researchers bring the evidence base. Practitioners bring operational insight. Educators shape the workforce pipeline. Progress depends on connecting these contributions, not privileging one over another.

This is where the royal college can be distinctive. Sir Hugh Taylor, chairing the UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board, recently described the aspiration for a body that brings together specialisms with generalists and creates stronger career frameworks, supported by well-accredited post-registration education. That vision requires people who understand how pharmacy’s different sectors interconnect and who can ensure that frontline insight, research evidence and professional standards all shape the royal college’s direction.

Pharmacy does not need to choose between experience and fresh ideas. What it needs is leadership that connects them: people who understand the system well enough to know where change is needed and who remain close enough to practice to know what change will actually work. Technology, including AI, will be part of that future, but it is one element within a broader transformation that must be led by a royal college genuinely connected to every part of the profession it serves.

Darren Powell

Candidate for the inaugural elections to the English Pharmacy Advisory Council