For decades we have bemoaned the perception of our professional standing and influence relative to others, yet we have failed to understand some of the crucial drivers to resolve this.
Look around you. Successful organisations are obsessively focussed on satisfying the needs of their customers. In our context — our patients; not ourselves. We benefit because our patients benefit.
If our leadership body were to be established today (instead of 183 years ago) it would be inconceivable that it would be created to pursue a strategy which puts the interests of its members ahead of those they serve.
This is why fundamental reform is needed. This is not a time for incremental change or rebranding. It is a time for a paradigm shift in thinking and delivery. This is not a time for complacency and resistance. It is a time for bold ambition and the selfless courage to change.
Just as I believe it to be a privilege to be a member of a profession regarded highly and important enough to be regulated, I would personally feel privileged to be a member of a credible, valued and respected professional leadership body. Professional integrity is critical for our survival.
I believe we need more confidence in ourselves and our abilities. We need to understand and appreciate the underlying reasons for our insecurities and hesitancies. We need to feel confident in our ability to bring about change for the good. To establish the means for us to maintain and improve our professional standing.
And we need to take an active role in collectively creating what is required to influence the future landscape in which we offer the highest standards of care for our patients.
So, if you are looking for an authentic candidate for the English Pharmacy Board; someone with a track record of delivering strategic change within our professional leadership body; someone who is unselfishly ambitious and a champion for the profession — please vote for me to join the English Pharmacy Board of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
Please follow me on X/Twitter @voteforsteve for my campaign messages and to join the conversation to create a better professional future for all of us.
Together we can make real and meaningful change happen.
Thank you.
Steve Churton
