One defining strength of our profession is our adaptability, our willingness to move on and be solution focused when times are challenging. Whether facing medication shortages, recruitment crises, funding cuts, chronic financial pressures or high patient expectations, we see this simply as part of the job.
Whilst resilience as a professional quality is important and indeed ingrained in our code of ethics, it is not without cost. Sustained periods of survival mode are exhausting and at times demoralising when we feel our profession is overlooked, seen as an afterthought when healthcare policy is being developed or funding decisions are being made. If this way of operating becomes further embedded as the norm, then workforce recruitment and retention, which is already challenging, will become impossible and any professional revival will be severely hampered.
Recent examples offer insight into how important a collective voice is when a profession is at breaking point. In 2025, the British Medical Association, whilst not a royal college, saw its largest membership since its initiation over 190 years ago. There may be several drivers for this, but one can reasonably assume that its role in representing its members interests around resilience fatigue and workforce conditions contributed heavily. This demonstrates the power of transparent and assertive membership advocacy. This must be a central focus of the Royal College of Pharmacy, ensuring that its supportive worth is showcased in its ability to champion the voice of the profession at a national and global level, ensuring that its negotiations and policy plan are reflective of the realities the pharmacy workforce face.
For many, myself included, meaningful membership will translate as having clear and practical support during periods of sustained pressure, transparent strategies shaped by member input and a forward-looking professional roadmap that offers varied and dynamic opportunities, particularly for those entering the profession.
I welcome the formation of the Royal College of Pharmacy because it presents a real opportunity to realise these membership aims. However, change is unsettling — it brings uncertainty in an already volatile time and guarantees are few. That is precisely why I am committed to contributing through the Advisory Council: to help shape practical solutions and to ensure that this moment of change is driven by purpose, clarity and collective ambition.
What I can guarantee is my enthusiasm for progress — and my belief that, together, we can build a stronger, more confident future for our profession.
Aisling Considine
Candidate for the inaugural elections to the English Pharmacy Advisory Council
