Community Pharmacy Expert Advisory Group (CPEAG)

The experts in Community Pharmacy

Our Community Pharmacy Expert Advisory Group provides advice, expertise and guidance across all aspects of community pharmacy practice.

CPEAG leads in best practice, tracking the changing healthcare environment, advising on implications for the community sector and RPS, and highlighting the changing professional needs and required competencies of our members.

Our knowledgeable and experienced CPEAG members work with all the RPS National Boards, advising them and providing evidenced-based leadership and opinion.

Their expertise informs RPS policy decisions and guides the advice we provide to governments, companies, and other organisations.

Read the CPEAG Terms of Reference

CPEAG Meetings

Meet our Community Pharmacy Expert Advisory Group

Janice Perkins (Chair)

Waqas Ahmad

Gary Evans

Jonathan James

Paul Jenks

Paul Jenks Paul qualified as a pharmacist in 1997 and spent the first years of his career developing his skills as a pharmacist manager on the Lincolnshire Coast. He then progressed to undertake several different pharmacy field roles, but retains a passion is for developing others and now works as a learning and development manager at Boots Support Office, developing and designing learning interventions related to pharmacy practice and service delivery. He is also committed to maintaining his patient-facing skills and so in addition to this role continues to practice regularly as a patient-facing community pharmacist.

Paul qualified as a pharmacist in 1997 and spent the first years of his career developing his skills as a pharmacist manager on the Lincolnshire Coast. He then progressed to undertake several different pharmacy field roles, but retains a passion is for developing others and now works as a learning and development manager at Boots Support Office, developing and designing learning interventions related to pharmacy practice and service delivery. He is also committed to maintaining his patient-facing skills and so in addition to this role continues to practice regularly as a patient-facing community pharmacist.
He is a local tutor for CPPE, supporting the Yorkshire and Humberside region to deliver online and in-person training events, and as is a CPPE coach, and CPPE Programme Manager.

He joined Lincolnshire LPC (now Community Pharmacy Lincolnshire) in 2007, being elected as chair in 2010 (a position he still holds). He continues to raise the profile of community pharmacy, sitting on several boards and groups, including the area prescribing committee, the ICB Care and Clinical Directorate Strategic Board, and he is vice-chair of the ICB Primary Care Advisory Group. He is also a member of the East Midlands Clinical Senate Council, and chairs the national Pharmacy Competency Group (which looks after the Declaration of Competence).

In 2015 he completed his Masters in Community Pharmacy Public Health Services, and subsequently became one of the course leads for the Cancer module of this programme. In 2018 he completed the NHS Mary Seacole Programme for Community Pharmacy Leadership Paul qualified as a pharmacist in 1997 and spent the first years of his career developing his skills as a pharmacist manager on the Lincolnshire Coast. He then progressed to undertake several different pharmacy field roles, but retains a passion is for developing others and now works as a learning and development manager at Boots Support Office, developing and designing learning interventions related to pharmacy practice and service delivery.

He is also committed to maintaining his patient-facing skills and so in addition to this role continues to practice regularly as a patient-facing community pharmacist.

Anna Matthews

Anna Matthews I have been involved in community pharmacy since I was sixteen, working as a Healthcare Assistant in my local pharmacy before attending the University of Bath from 2012 to 2016, and qualifying as a pharmacist in 2017. From then up until 2023, I worked as a Pharmacy Manager originally for Well in Cardiff, and later for Sheppards Pharmacy in the Rhondda; and in January 2023 I was approached with an offer to enter business with a group of successful pharmacists. In September 2023, we purchased a community pharmacy in Maesteg, situated in the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health board in South Wales, where I became Community Pharmacy Contractor, Superintendent Pharmacist and Independent Prescriber at the newly named Nanty Pharmacy.

In April 2024 I adopted the role of Community Pharmacy Cluster Lead for Bridgend North, and in October 2024 Nanty Pharmacy won two Welsh Pharmacy Awards: Innovation in Service Delivery and Independent Community Pharmacy of the Year.

I feel strongly about providing quality clinical services within community pharmacy, and am passionate about finding ways to streamline workflow, represent our profession, address the challenges that we face and improve service by working collaboratively with other healthcare professionals.

I am an advocate for improving access to Mental Health resources and services in the community, and have created some posters for use across Wales detailing what services are available in different areas.

In my spare time, I create leaflets on various health conditions to share with the public and other healthcare professionals.

Fiona McElrea

Fiona McElrea I have been a pharmacist for nearly 27 years and have spent most of my career working in the community sector. My early years were spent working for a large multiple before travelling and working in hospital pharmacies in Australia.

For the last sixteen years I have been owner and Superintendent Pharmacist of a busy remote and rural pharmacy in Dumfries and Galloway, which I own and run alongside my husband.

I completed my Independent Prescribing qualification in 2020 and currently provide the Pharmacy First Plus Service, working very closely with our local GP practice and other HCPs.

We have two teenage daughters and one dog and I enjoy spending my free time outside running, cycling, swimming and generally trying to keep fit.

I am very much looking forward to being part of the CPEAG and promoting and improving the fantastic work that community pharmacy teams provide.

Amul Mistry

Amul Mistry With over 25 years experience in the community pharmacy sector, I have developed and gained a varied amount of experience and knowledge. As a highly skilled and dedicated pharmacy manager committed to ensuring the delivery of high-quality patient centred care, through engagement and delivery of a variety of services with my team with great success.

I have held various senior leadership and project management roles in my career, and that has helped me develop a strong passion for community pharmacy and its future in primary care. I have a passion for leading teams and piers to provide exceptional customer service and effective healthcare solutions and services, providing them with tools and working practises to help them take a more strategic view of their business.

As pharmacy evolves in primary care I want to spearhead the importance of GP relationships, as I am committed to fostering a positive working relationship the encourages collaboration, trusting the highest standard of care, hopefully inspiring such relationships and the benefits it brings to pharmacy will inspire others to engage with their GP practices and I truly speak from the success this has bought to my community pharmacy and GP practice

Sarah Passmore

Diane Robertson

Shilpa Shah

Shilpa Shah CEO Community Pharmacy North East London is an experienced award winning leader in the Community Pharmacy sector. She is a pharmacist and Royal Pharmaceutical Society fellow, who has worked in the Community Pharmacy Field for almost 25 years.

She is an Advisory Board member on the Inclusive Pharmacy Practice Advisory Board, chaired by David Webb CPhO, NHSEngland as well as a UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board Member.

Shilpa also holds many senior voluntary positions at several charities, she is a volunteer Director of Branch Operations for Samaritans as well as a listening volunteer in her local branch, a volunteer at Pharmacist Support and a volunteer Healthcare Deputy Manager at Crisis at Christmas.

Jonathan Smith

Dina Thakker

Dina Thakker During my tenure as a pharmacist, I have utilised my registration in various environments, including Community Pharmacy (CP), hospitals, and working closely with GP practices and PCNs. My expertise spans operational perspectives, service procurement, and supporting the NHS's strategic aims to deliver high-quality care through community pharmacy.

As SWL Head of Medicines Optimisation and previously Community Pharmacy Clinical Lead, I have delivered on the vision required within the ICS footprint, focusing on GP and pharmacy contractual frameworks. My experience includes enhancing nationally commissioned services such as Pharmacy First, hypertension case finding and the implementation and delivery of IP pathfinder.

Within the ICB, we have developed and implemented services such as 'Winter Fit MECC intervention (Winner of C&D awards 2024 – Health Initiative of the Year),' procured funding for digital inclusion services broadening access to the NHS app and aligned funding for MMR vaccine hesitancy services. With a focus on digital, I lead to streamline digital solutions to support service integration.

As a system leader, I focus on enhancing healthcare through primary care transformation and community pharmacy integration, through areas such as INT’s. I am looking forward to the outputs from the 10- year plan to help change the NHS and have community pharmacy as a true partner for delivery.

Nick Thayer

Patricia Tigenoah-Ojo

CPEAG highlights of 2024

The Community Pharmacy Expert Advisory Group (CPEAG) acts as a source of expertise, advice and opinion to inform Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) policy decisions and work plans.

During 2024, CPEAG has provided strong representation for the community pharmacy across England, Scotland and Wales, playing an integral and informative role in helping shape policy, consultation responses and the advocacy role of the RPS.

Some of the highlights of another fantastic year with the group are detailed below.

Pharmacy Supervision

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The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) consulted on proposals to modernise legislation governing the supervision of activities by a pharmacist in a pharmacy.

This consultation set out proposals to amend the Medicines Act 1968 and The Human Medicines Regulations 2012. CPEAG looked at the following two specific proposals to help inform the RPS response to the consultation:
- Enable pharmacists to authorise pharmacy technicians to carry out, or supervise others carrying out, the preparation, assembly, dispensing, sale and supply of medicines
- Enable pharmacists to authorise any member of the pharmacy team to hand out checked and bagged prescriptions in the absence of a pharmacist
The group were able to consider the proposals in terms of their own forward-thinking evolving practice and that of the wider community pharmacy network.

The group were broadly in favour of the first proposal, the introducing of the authorisation of a pharmacy technician by a pharmacist. However, concerns were raised that more clarity was needed in the proposals, the challenges to implementation, potential unintended consequences and the overriding priority to maintain patient safety at all times.

The group were unanimous in their support for the second proposal, the handing out of pre-checked bagged medicines to patients in the absence of a pharmacist, whilst iterating the necessary safety checks and the need for a patient to always be able to speak to a pharmacist.

The feedback, together with that from wider member engagement events, directly informed the three country boards when shaping the RPS response to the consultation.
Medicines Shortages, Policy development

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The RPS led on a project examining the causes of the growing challenge of medicines shortages and to help tackle the impact on patients and pharmacy practice.

CPEAG were instrumental in this piece of work, helping to shine a light on the pressures on community pharmacy teams sourcing medicines for patients. The group highlighted the work of pharmacy teams at the front line in helping prevent shortages, managing shortages once they occur and changes necessary to benefit patients.

Discussions focused on early communication, system resilience, reimbursement and financial implications together with making minor amendments to prescriptions, all of which feature within recommendations in the published report, Medicines Shortages: Solutions for empty shelves.
Artificial Intelligence and Digital Capabilities in Pharmacy, Policy Development

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Artificial Intelligence and Digital capabilities within Pharmacy were prioritised as professional issues for policy development in the RPS 2024 work plan. CPEAG were able to directly inform this policy work, providing practical examples of how elements of AI can support practice.

The group ensured a strong focus on using AI as a tool to reduce risk and enhance patient safety, through supporting the dispensing process to minimise and mitigate against errors and to release clinical capacity.

The group noted that with advancing technology, it will be essential to help and support pharmacy teams to implement the safe use of such systems. The group also highlighted that, where AI is already in use and widely accepted as best practice, how several systems now incorporated automated learning as standard and the importance of these systems learning from the right knowledge base.
Facilitated sale of P medicines

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Following changes brought by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) through implementing an outcomes approach to standards, some pharmacies are now adopting a more flexible interpretation to the open sale and self-selection of P medicines.

The national pharmacy boards of the RPS were asked to consider the current policy position, that ‘’pharmacy medicines must not be available for self-selection’’, as this is currently at odds with the regulator.

Following Board discussions, it was decided, a ‘call for evidence’ would be issued to ensure any potential forthcoming changes to our professional guidance are truly evidence based. In addition, a session was held with CPEAG to inform future board decisions, with discussions focusing on the group's experiences of working within a facilitated sale of P medicines environment, the evidence of benefit/harm and considerations in terms of future practice.

The group provided insights of their experiences working within pharmacies where the open sale of P medicines was implemented, and what safeguards are in place to protect the public. Through the robust security measures in place to protect the public, the additional training of staff and the empowerment this can enable, together with the utilisation of technology and the restrictions on certain medicines, members of the group described how such changes can be adopted positively. The group discussed the changing role of pharmacists with a greater emphasis on delivery of clinical services for patients, together with the training of pharmacists as autonomous prescribers. The important role of the RPS was discussed in guidance for the profession, should the Boards decide to adopt a new policy position.

Outcomes of this session fed directly into a subsequent Board meeting to provide expertise to the Board to help inform their decision-making.
Repeat prescribing toolkit (RCGP/RPS)

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The RPS and the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) have developed a practical toolkit designed to improve the consistency, safety and efficiency of repeat prescribing systems in general practices in England.

The RPS/RCGP Repeat prescribing toolkit was commissioned by NHS England and is a recommendation from the 2021 National Overprescribing Review, which recognised the impact that poorly operated repeat prescribing can have on over prescribing and problematic polypharmacy.

CPEAG provided practical and constructive feedback on early drafts of the toolkit, including the initial size of the document, it’s suitability for use in practice and the easiest format for users to identify the area most applicable to their sphere of practice.