World Pharmacists Day (WPD) offers an opportunity to reflect on the brilliant work of pharmacists globally and allows colleagues to highlight unity in their work for safer patient outcomes.
For WPD 2024, Anna Wilkinson, Jackie Lamberty, Shilan Ghafoor and Diane Ashiru-Oredope, pharmacists at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), teamed up to bring together pharmacy professionals (pharmacists and pharmacy technicians) working for central government organisations in England for a shared learning and support event. While at the time our goal was clear, we had no idea we were planting the seeds for something that would grow into such a vibrant community.
We held our first event at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) offices in London, bringing together over 40 colleagues across four organisations (including former UKHSA chief pharmaceutical officer fellows). Seeing pharmacists and pharmacy technicians from DHSC, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), Ministry of Defence (MoD) and UKHSA connect to share experiences and learn from each other was incredibly energising.
We were delighted to be joined by senior leaders, including the chief nurse at the UKHSA and the chief and deputy chief pharmaceutical officers for England. The discussions about medicines leadership, collaboration opportunities and professional development showed just how much appetite there was for this kind of connection.
Fast forward to 2025 and we are thrilled that the community has flourished. In addition to coffee roulette between individuals, we have met as a whole group quarterly online, with different organisations taking the lead including DHSC and MoD.
This year, it was the MHRA’s turn to host the in-person WPD event (held on 7 October 2025) with a carefully curated programme that reflects the depth of expertise and collaboration across our community.
Presentations ranged from collaborative surveillance, medicines governance and antimicrobial resistance activities at UKHSA to managing robust medicine supply chains at DHSC, the unique challenges of delivering medicines management in defence environments, examining access to essential medicines during COVID-19, responding to international safety signals to the journey of becoming a quality assessor at MHRA, showcasing the full spectrum of pharmaceutical expertise across government.
We also had an interactive session on enhancing communication and team dynamics using personality profiling to strengthen how we work within our teams and across organisational boundaries.
The connections we are building through this community are not just about professional development – they are about creating a network that can respond more effectively to public health needs, share knowledge more efficiently and ultimately deliver better outcomes for patients and the public. We are also looking forward to supporting pharmacy students and early career pharmacists understand the scope of our roles.
To find out more about members of the community and to connect with any of us, click here.
Diane Ashiru-Oredope, lead pharmacist, AMR and joint head of AMR PROGRESS section, UKHSA
Shilan Ghafoor, lead pharmacist — medicines governance, UKHSA
Himal Makwana, head of defective medicines reporting, MHRA
