General Pharmaceutical Council
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has appointed Niketa Platt as its new Scottish clinical leadership pharmacy fellow to focus on differential attainment within pharmacy education.
In a statement published on 8 December 2025, the regulator said that Platt, lead pharmacist in viral hepatitis at NHS Lothian, will work with the GPhC’s equality, diversity and inclusion team to understand which factors, or potentially combination of factors, may affect attainment.
“I’m delighted to be taking up this position,” said Platt. “It represents an excellent opportunity to gain a different pharmacy perspective and to collaborate with colleagues on a project in which I can be fully engaged.”
A data analysis by The Pharmaceutical Journal, published in March 2025, revealed that the ethnicity awarding gap for UK pharmacy graduates had widened since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The majority (94%) of white pharmacy graduates were awarded a first or 2:1 degree compared with 83% of ethnic minority pharmacy graduates — an 11 percentage point gap, the analysis revealed.
Similarly, a report by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), published in February 2024, highlighted that a degree awarding gap of 12 percentage points and a registration assessment attainment gap of 23 percentage points persists between black and white pharmacy trainees.
Siobhan McGuinness, director for Scotland at the GPhC, commented: “We are looking forward to having Niketa Platt working with us at the GPhC. The aim is that Niketa will be working alongside GPhC teams focusing on differential attainment in pharmacy as her main project.
“Niketa has an extensive and varied experience in pharmacy, which she will be able to use to help deliver important work that can make a real difference to the future of pharmacy in Scotland.”
A spokesperson for NHS Education for Scotland (NES) commented: “[NES is] delighted to be collaborating with the GPhC on the Scottish pharmacy clinical leadership fellowship scheme.
“With the project aiming to build shared understanding of differential attainment, explore pragmatic approaches to address it, and shape recommendations that support fair, consistent practice across pharmacy education and training, Niketa’s work will be key to progressing both the GPhC and the NES approach to this important issue.
“Now in its eighth year, the Scottish pharmacy clinical leadership fellowship programme aims to develop the next generation of senior pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who are passionate about advancing the profession and equipped to provide strategic leadership across NHS Scotland, nationally and internationally,” they added.
Platt is the second Scottish clinical leadership pharmacy fellow to be hosted at the GPhC. The scheme, which launched in 2018, aims to support future pharmacy leaders, as well as help to improve the care of patients in Scotland.
Other fellows for 2025 include Elspeth Boxall, who will work with the RPS on a refresh of the Society’s aesthetics policy.
- This story was amended on 11 December to incorporate additional comment from NHS Education for Scotland
