Courtesy of Mahendra Patel, Liz Hallett and Catriona Sinclair
The Royal College of Pharmacy (RCPharm) formally launched in April 2026 and with it came its first cohort of national pharmacy advisory council chairs. Mahendra Patel, Liz Hallett and Catriona Sinclair — representing England, Wales and Scotland, respectively — spoke to The Pharmaceutical Journal about their priorities for RCPharm’s first year.
Common themes and concerns run through all three nations: the shape of the forthcoming workforce plan, safely embedding independent prescribing in community pharmacy, and the importance of listening to members as the College finds its feet. However, each chair also brings their own distinct perspective. Taken together, their answers offer an early look at how the College intends to represent pharmacists across Great Britain.
Mahendra Patel
Why should people consider joining the College now?
Pharmacy is changing so rapidly. The College supports pharmacists through their journey, whether that’s early career, mid-career, helping people to practise at the top of their licence as our roles become more clinical. That’s key to us — professional support, mentoring, credentialing to help pharmacy professionals build confidence and capability at every stage of their careers. Membership also gives a voice in shaping the future of the profession, as we see through our expert advisory groups and other colleagues. It is members who are helping to drive this forward. I want the College to be a more collaborative voice across the pharmacy landscape. I’m really looking forward to properly engaging with members in shaping the future of the royal college.
What are some of the bigger challenges around health inequalities at the moment?
Research should reflect the population who ultimately use the medicines and services that it is being developed for. We cannot have excellent science if some communities are systematically absent from the research.
Inclusivity is about how research is designed, who gets to shape it, where it happens and whether communities trust it. Women — for example — are less represented in clinical research, as are ethnic minorities. If we’re not engaging them in clinical trials, that could have a huge impact on the evidence base.
Pharmacy is uniquely embedded within communities. It has a major opportunity to become part of the research infrastructure. We’ve now got pharmacists leading clinical trials. Pharmacy First has now created another opportunity for pharmacy, helping engagement into research through those very communities that we often leave behind and don’t have represented. Health inequality and research inequalities are two sides of the same coin. If the evidence base doesn’t adequately represent the population, then we risk designing services and treatment that work better for some communities than others.
What would the College like to see in the ten-year workforce plan?
Workforce is the biggest budget spend for our health service — medicines are second. We are essential to supporting patient safety and pharmacy is central to delivering NHS reform. The forthcoming plan must support the ambitions of that ten-year plan, that shift towards prevention, neighbourhood health care and care closer to home.
It is vital the workforce gets the recognition and support it deserves so that we can continue making differences for patients and build a stronger future. Investment in education and prescribing is critical. Independent prescribing is expanding pharmacists’ role and helping to ease NHS pressures, but we need further investment in training, in designated prescribing practitioner capacity, protected learning time and recognition for our supervisors. Workforce wellbeing must be prioritised, irrespective of which sector you’re in.
We need the right numbers, the skills and the skill mix. Career development and progression really matter. We should properly recognise advanced and specialist pharmacy practice. But, critically, planning needs to consider the diversity and inclusion of our workforce as well.
I want to see a workforce plan that doesn’t simply ask how many pharmacists we need but asks what kind of pharmacy workforce the NHS of the future actually needs to move forward with strength and with confidence.
Community Pharmacy England are currently working with the government on reforming the pharmacy contract. What should be prioritised in that?
It’s a positive step. The College has every willingness to join discussions on this.
We need to make sure that infrastructure supports pharmacists to deliver services safely and effectively. Access to patient records, digital infrastructure and professional development are vital to our direction of travel. Community pharmacy needs to be properly integrated into neighbourhood and primary care.
Any reform must support the sustainability and resilience of community pharmacy. But I think we are yet to see clear, structured detail on what a reform programme might look like.
If we are asking pharmacy teams to take on greater clinical responsibility, we need to make sure they have the workforce, the necessary skill set, infrastructure and investment to deliver that safely and effectively.
What are your thoughts on a single national formulary?
It’s an opportunity to bring a health equity lens into the discussion, because it’s about reducing variation, improving access, with local prescribers retaining clinical autonomy yet encouraged to use products ranked highly within it. I think the opportunity should reduce that postcode lottery. Patients should not have different access to medicines simply because of where they live.
It could potentially speed up adoption of clinically and cost-effective medicines. But the implementation side is vital. We must preserve clinical judgement and patient-centred care. There needs to be a clear evidence base behind the decisions. We need to understand the impact on different patient groups and implementation should not inadvertently create new inequalities.
Pharmacists should have a strong role in its development and implementation. From my perspective, the test of a single national formulary is not simply whether it reduces variation, but whether it produces fairer access to medicines while preserving professional clinical judgement and patient-centred care.
What are the priorities for team England?
It’s about strengthening the professional voice, making sure the royal college is seen as a credible, constructive, influential voice for pharmacy.
We need to ensure pharmacists are properly represented in the workforce conversation, and that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have meaningful career development. Advocating for pharmacy’s role in the ten-year plan has to be key.
The other part is engaging with integrated care boards (ICBs) and the reforms. I know pharmacy teams have faced huge difficulty with those cuts, professionally and mentally. We continue to highlight the importance of pharmacy system leadership, especially in relation to the changes to ICB commissioning.
To continue to embed health equity across our work, to support pharmacists with resources and education, and advocate on the wider social factors that affect health.
I’m passionate about how we engage with and grow membership. This is largely why I came into the College. That’s all about building relationships, building confidence and building trust.
Is there any further message for members?
Pharmacists are increasingly clinicians, prescribers, researchers and population health professionals. We need to make sure the profession has the leadership, the workforce and the infrastructure to fulfil that potential, across all settings and career stages.
Alongside that, I want us to keep asking a fundamental question: are we improving outcomes for everyone, including those communities that have traditionally been least well served by health and research? That’s where I think pharmacists can make a significant contribution, providing access in the heart of communities.
Liz Hallett
You’ve had a diverse background across pharmacy. How does that help you in your role at the College?
I know how complex pharmacy is and how it touches so many different elements of the NHS. I don’t like to just do one thing — I like to do multiple things. Understanding all the different sectors does make it easier to do this role, so that you can understand some of the challenges, but also know your limitations as well. I haven’t got a big secondary care background, so I would lean towards other people who may be more experienced in that area for advice on that.
You were board chair, briefly before the transition?
Yes. When Geraldine [McCaffrey] stepped into her role of director of pharmacy in Wales, I was interim chair of the Welsh Pharmacy Board for a bit. That was an exciting time as we transitioned over, and being part of the shadow boards. It was also a busy time. I’ve never read so many documents in my life. Speed reading became an essential skill! I’m now looking forward to what RCPharm can do going forward.
What drew you to apply for the board chair role and now this?
I wanted to help make sure that the Welsh pharmacy perspective is heard. I’m really passionate about the educational agenda and ensuring pharmacists are supported throughout their entire career pathway, not just when they’re newly qualified. We need to be thinking about how we support colleagues as they develop, take on new responsibilities, move between sectors and continue to grow professionally throughout their careers. Ultimately, that support enables pharmacists to work at the top of their licence and deliver the best possible care for the public.
That’s why I’m particularly excited about the launch of the enhanced curriculum and credential. It provides a clear and structured framework that supports pharmacists to develop their prescribing practice while also building skills in leadership, education, research and evaluation. I think it’s a really positive step forward because it recognises that becoming an effective pharmacist prescriber is about more than clinical knowledge alone. The flexible credentialing pathway also makes progression more manageable and accessible, helping pharmacists build confidence and capability at a pace that works for them. For me, it’s exactly the kind of support infrastructure we need to develop a sustainable, highly skilled pharmacy workforce for the future.
Is there anything you can tell us about the College’s engagement with the new Senedd?
We’ve had a huge change in the Senedd, and we’ve had over 70 new members who’ve never been in the Senedd before. It’s a really good time to start engaging with them. We were in the Senedd recently at an event called Y Farchnad, which is a marketplace where lots of different organisations have a stall. Y Farchnad was just introducing RCPharm to the new members and also some old familiar faces as well but also trying to align with the new government’s policies — to show how pharmacy links into those different areas.
They’re looking at reducing medicines waste. Pharmacy has a strong role in there. Then there’s the health hubs and the new cancer plan, where pharmacists have great expertise. So, it’s introducing how pharmacists can influence into their health plan going forward.
The Welsh Affairs Committee’s report about cross-border patients identified issues with securing specialist treatment and transferring data across the border. Is that something that you’ve experienced?
It’s something that is a problem, especially in my prescribing advisor role, because we’re on the border in Monmouthshire, so a lot of patients live in England and have a GP in Wales or vice versa. And our NHS IT system in Wales doesn’t talk to the IT system in England. And some things that are commissioned in England, aren’t commissioned in Wales. This can be confusing for patients.
It’s a problem that affects my work, but I haven’t got the solution. There’s lots of talk about helping to find the solution to it, improving the digital infrastructure would be a great enabler.
Wales is more advanced in pharmacogenomics than the other nations. Is there anything interesting happening that you could tell us about?
We’ve had cancer genomics testing, and then there’s been the CYP2C19 and clopidogrel testing that’s been a piloted in University Hospital of Wales. There’s been some consultations that I’ve responded to looking at possible carbamazepine testing as well. We are moving strongly in support of tailored medication for patients. We have Sophie Harding as the consultant pharmacist in pharmacogenomics, who is an inspiring person. Her webinars got me really involved, and I did the Bangor University pharmacogenomics course as well. We have access to these educational resources in Wales, and it’s something that pharmacists really do need to be involved with.
We’ve got a pharmacogenomics plan coming out for Wales later [in 2026], and the royal college created a resource earlier [in 2026]. When I was in university, pharmacogenomics was way in the future, but it’s tangible now.
What are the priorities for team Wales for the rest of 2026 and into 2027?
Making sure that we get those good connections with the Senedd. Then we can be involved in those consultations and really influence Welsh government as well.
‘Pharmacy: delivering a healthier Wales’ is still ongoing. And we’ve got our conference in September 2026, which has got an exciting agenda and some really good speakers. We’ve got our trailblazer talks coming again, which highlights the varied work that goes on in Wales.
We’ve had the Welsh government-commissioned report into pharmacy in GP practices, and so that’s going to be one of the big things that will land later on [in 2026]. Hopefully, we can see how we can implement and guide that, if the Welsh government accepts it.
As a pharmacy advisory council, we’re meeting again in September 2026, where we will start planning what our work plan will be going forward, and then all councils will get together in November 2026 to discuss and see how the strategies go.
I think the main the main things will be that political engagement, but we are in a fortunate position with the current health minister. He sat on the previous health committee, so we’ve got a good relationship. So political engagement, lots of strategy planning, lots of opportunities to influence as well.
Is there any message you’d like to give members?
We really want to hear from members. We’re in our early days of being RCPharm, and we’ve got great expectations of what we can deliver. But we want to hear from members to know what we can do, and for them to get involved. I’d encourage members attend the conference if they can, too. Just get engaged, really!
Catriona Sinclair
Following the recent Scottish elections, what’s being done in terms of getting to know new members of Scottish Parliament?
It’s the same colour of government. There have been some changes of positions, but there’s familiarity with some people who we already know in the health portfolio, in particular the minister who’s got pharmacy under their remit. We’re lucky that we’ve got a very good team in the Scotland College, and they’ve built a lot of these relationships already.
It’s getting that first 100 days out the way, seeing what we can do and what the agenda looks like. We had a parliamentary motion that celebrated the royal college formation back in April 2026. That was a good message to members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), to our members and to the public as a whole.
We’re planning on another engagement day with the MSPs, and we’ve got a parliamentary reception in April 2027 to celebrate a year as the royal college. We want to get as many of the MSPs engaged across the political parties as possible.
You’re an experienced remote and rural pharmacist, what are the benefits and challenges around that?
There’s a significant relationship between pharmacy teams and the local community. You become very quickly part of that community. You see generations going through as well. It’s quite remarkable from that point of view. The relationships you develop with other healthcare professionals in that community tend to be significant as well, because you are all living the interdependence that should be happening, but doesn’t necessarily happen, everywhere. But it has to happen when you’re rural.
We have the challenge of the brain drain that happens when people go to university and there is no university near them, so they have to travel. How do you get them to come back? Housing affordability, public transport is a challenge. It’s important for me to make sure that everybody engages with that conversation about recruitment and retention, because it’s more than just getting people to work here. It’s about how we support them to live here. We certainly are having that conversation within the Highlands.
People talk about how we do training and development: that’s always been a challenge in rural areas. We have used things like Teams for many years. For us, it wasn’t a byproduct of COVID-19. I think it could be used even more going forward. I’ve been a designated prescribing practitioner (DPP) for prescriber learning, and I’ve done that remotely. It doesn’t mean we don’t meet up occasionally. We have to meet up for certain things, but we can have a conversation online to touch base regularly.
Are there enough DPPs and are there enough places for prescribers to use their qualifications?
For about five years or so now, we’ve been actively training people as prescribers, particularly within the community contract, and the Scottish government agreed a way ahead to do that because we knew 2026 was coming. It’s really taken off in the last two years. We’ve managed to somehow get through and have enough DPPs. Sometimes that might mean that someone’s being a DPP to a few people at once. It’s a challenge, but we’ve done it. I wouldn’t say it’s been easy, but it’s been worth it, and we’re now seeing that come to fruition. Around 50% of community pharmacies now have a prescriber within them in Scotland.
We have Pharmacy First in its advanced form of common clinical conditions operating in half the community pharmacy network, and our original plan was that by 2030 that could be all pharmacies. So, we’re on track, I would suggest, with that.
The degree I came out with was fit for purpose 35 years ago. Today’s degree is fit for purpose for prescribers. We have to remember that what our job was back then is not what [new registrants’] job is now, so how we support them is going to be a bit different.
Our role professionally, and our role as a royal college, is to make sure that we are optimising new independent prescribers’ opportunity to be the best they can be. They’re like fledglings: we need to support them till they fully fly and make sure that they fly safely. The royal college has produced guidance and support for the newly qualified, which has been well received.
What are the priorities for team Scotland for the rest of 2026 and into 2027?
Workforce planning is a priority. It’s a Scottish government priority, actually. We want pharmacy to be included in the primary care, secondary care conversation that happens about workforce planning.
We had a round table [at Holyrood] on health and climate back in April 2026, with other royal colleges, that set some of the agenda. We’d had a manifesto for health and climate in the past, and with that roundtable we had a bigger conversation about that. So, we’ll be seeing hopefully some outputs, which we can help move forward. That ties into the greener pharmacy toolkit, which is still ongoing, and we’re trying to keep that at the front of the agenda.
One of the key things in our manifesto is getting a shared patient care record. Technology will become the rate limiting step as to how we optimise our skills, in particular in community, but that links to secondary care because if we’re all joined up, we can all get on with a job that suits our professional skills. Pharmacists in hospital don’t want to be doing jobs they don’t have to do any more than we do in community and the same in GP surgeries. We need that shared patient record that allows us to have read write access and be actively part of the patient’s healthcare team. So, we’re continuing to lobby for that.
Is there any message you’d like to give members?
The key things for me are that the royal college is an exciting opportunity for change and for us to have a strong professional voice. The other thing is let’s support those young new pharmacists to be all they can be. It can only be to the benefit of the profession if we enable them to do that with safety and support, because my generation won’t be here for much longer.
