I had just been elected president in 2021 when I gave an interview to The PJ, ‘What you see is what you get with me‘. I am proud of what the RPS has achieved since then. It has been an honour to be president of RPS and member of the English Pharmacy Board at this time of unprecedented change.
With the changes to initial education and training, prescribing is a key focus and we will continue to provide support to all prescribers, including the 2026 cohort onwards. I have waited all my career for community pharmacy to embrace a more clinical future and am delighted this is happening in England through Pharmacy First, prescribing pathfinders, contraceptive services and other initiatives. This has all come at a time of increased workload, shortages and health workforce issues. The whole pharmacy team needs to be used effectively in all settings and I welcome the expansion of pharmacy technicians roles and responsibilities — as our fellow registered profession, they are vital to the provision of patient care in every setting.
I am excited about the work of the UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board (UKPPLAB) that is just beginning. I am delighted that RPS are hosting all the meetings. It brings together colleagues from across pharmacy. Together we can do far more than alone and I look forward to an exciting more joined up future.
I said I wanted to champion sustainability and that has certainly been the case. We are continuously looking for ways to reduce our environmental impact, and assist the profession to do the same. We have divested from fossil fuels, becoming an active member of the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change. We secured a top spot in the Climate and Health Scorecard Initiative. We must continue to move forward and support our members and wider climate action within healthcare.
We have further developed our work on inclusion and diversity, looking at everything from recruitment and the fellowship process through to collecting more data from you our members. We can only do this with your help.
I am really looking forward to be able to tell members more about the RPS constitution and governance review. The aim is to enhance transparency and increase our agility, enabling more effective leadership. We are committed to engaging extensively with members, providing ample opportunities for participation so you can help shape our future and strengthen our professional leadership function.
Claire Anderson
