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There is still too much Department of Health design, management and oversight of the professional pharmacy leadership project and unless that changes, it will largely fail, says Terry Maguire…

Sir Hugh Taylor, the chair of the UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board (UKPPLAB), struggled to pronounce ‘Sheelin’, the name of our Zoom meeting chair.

It was not a bad effort for an Englishman. Some of these Irish names can be tricky. We were brought together for the Northern Ireland ‘big conversation’ on pharmacy professional leadership.

On screen were the great and good of UKPPLAB along with a small number of interested locals. There were no Scottish or Welsh colleagues as this was the last in a series of regional meetings to inform the ongoing process of securing UK leadership for the profession.

Too much fragmentation across the profession

Sir Hugh provided a brief overview of his committee and what has been achieved. From the start, the Zoom was upbeat and positive. We were told this was a body in the making, that it would change things.

We were told it would span the myriad pharmacy representative bodies across the UK and provide much-needed professional leadership for every pharmacist and pharmacy technician.

On the current Board, eight pharmacy bodies are represented with 10 ex-officio members and, of course, public and patient representatives.

We were also told about a “sustainable transition to a framework for professional leadership”. It was claimed, and I agree, that at the moment, there was too much fragmentation across the profession.

We were then told the body emerging from this work would provide that much-needed vision and common purpose for pharmacy. Perhaps.

Hopefully, current work will lead to new model of professional leadership 

Mahendra, one of the speakers, told us this was “a pivotal moment” and there was “never a greater need for professional leadership”.  In my 40 years in pharmacy, I don’t think there has ever been a time that this phrase would not have applied.

But it was upbeat and positive and I’m trying not to be negative. The five key objectives are; unified and visionary leadership; supporting collaboration; advocacy and public awareness; embracing advancement in practice; and driving forward research.

I cannot disagree with any of these excellent aspirations. UKPPLAB has a three-year lifespan and, hopefully, the current work will lead to a new model of professional leadership for the UK.

After these short, supportive talks, we were asked to scan the 2D barcode on the screen and download the Slido app. To enter our response, we had to use access code #5749110 so that we could create ‘Slido clouds’.  I tried but it didn’t work for this Luddite.

We were then asked a series of big questions, such as what are the benefits of professional leadership, and asked to enter our Slido responses.

Disorientating blizzard of upbeat technical and positive words

On screen magically appeared ‘Slido’ clouds of positive words. A word used frequently appeared more prominently. Goodness, we were a positive bunch, all 36 of us, but then at least 10 were from UKPPLAB or the Department of Health, so they hardly counted.

Some, like me, were on the chat function as we couldn’t seem to use the Slido app.

When the 10 questions were completed and 10 Slido clouds recorded, I felt I had been subsumed into a disorientating blizzard of upbeat technical and positive words. I felt quite giddy.

In the last 10 minutes, we could ask questions. Interestingly, it was questions, not views. I had hoped that, this being a big conversation, UKPPLAB might be interested in my views. So, I tried to provide my views in question format.

I complained there was no discussion of local leadership and how we might truly reverse the decimation of leadership which the government imposed back in 2010 and is now seeking to restore.

We still had the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland which remains a professional advocacy body, although its ability to execute this role has been stymied by the same government which now is telling us we don’t have a proper professional-leadership framework.   

Sheelin, who was also chair of Northern Ireland Pharmacy Forum, noted my criticism and Raymond Anderson, another local pharmacy leader, assured me the final shape of the body was yet to be determined. Really? This was to happen, I think, on June 15.

I’m all for professional pharmacy leadership but I think pharmacists should have a much better role and say in determining this. There is too much Department of Health design, management and oversight in this project and unless that changes, it will largely fail.

There is a need for local leadership because the way we pronounce things at a local level, whether it’s ‘Sheelin’ or ‘leadership’ or ‘pharmacy’, really does matter, particularly if there is to be buy-in from the pharmacists purportedly being represented.

Terry Maguire is a leading pharmacist in Northern Ireland.