Source: Corrinne Burns
The number of candidates standing for election to the 2021 Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) National Pharmacy Boards has more than doubled compared with 2019, when the elections were most recently held.
Across the three national pharmacy boards, 48 candidates are standing for election in 2021. This is the highest number of candidates since 2015.
In 2019, there were 21 candidates, and between 2015 and 2018 the number of candidates ranged from 18 to 27.
No election was held in 2020, after the RPS Assembly agreed that holding elections during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic would have been a “diversion from the priority of the nation and the profession”.
According to the Society’s regulations, members elected to the national pharmacy boards “are expected to provide advocacy, support and strategic
leadership for pharmacy practice development, to promote the science and practice of pharmacy and its contribution to health, and to support pharmacists in their professional roles”.
As part of the pharmacy boards, those elected will be responsible for policymaking at a national level and are accountable to the RPS Assembly.
Neal Patel, head of digital marketing and communications at the RPS, said that the Society was “delighted that so many members are standing for election across England, Scotland and Wales”.
“It’s great to see a diverse range of experience, backgrounds and sectors represented too,” he said.
“We know the demands on pharmacists remain extraordinarily high — it’s a testament to the professional commitment of pharmacists that so many are willing to put themselves forward.”
The 2021 RPS National Pharmacy Board elections open for voting on 29 April 2021. Voting closes on 13 May 2021.
