By Professor Claire Anderson, RPS President
It’s a pleasure to be writing this at the beginning of a new and exciting year, but in doing so I am conscious of the acute pressures many pharmacy colleagues have experienced during what has been a particularly tough winter. While I hope that all members enjoyed the festive season, for many in community, primary care and hospital settings, there probably wasn’t much actual holiday. So I’d like to start with a thank you to those colleagues who have been caring for patients through a challenging period in an already stretched system.
As the year opens, I’m very aware of the many challenges facing pharmacy. Dependable forecasting of drug availability and affordability and problems with the economy and global trade are causing uncertainty for the entire pharmaceutical industry, from laboratory research to making new drugs. These challenges are affecting our members and pharmacy as a whole and impacting patients and families.
2026 will also bring significant change to pharmacy practice with the first cohort of newly qualified pharmacists being independent prescribers. As a professor at the University of Nottingham, I’ve worked with some of the pharmacy trainees coming through, and I’ve been impressed by both how fast universities and experiential learning providers have implemented big changes to undergraduate courses to prepare for this change, as well as by how well prepared the students are.
But they will need us all to help support them as they come into the workforce and find their feet. The RPS credentialing team is implementing the enhanced credentialing curriculum for this first cohort of newly qualified pharmacists, but there’s a big role to play for those of us already established in our practice or professional lives – to encourage, support and mentor our newly-qualified pharmacist colleagues, as well as facilitate time and space for their continued development. There also needs to be a national service framework in community pharmacy in England as is already in place in Scotland and Wales, so that pharmacists’ prescribing skills are utilised from the start of their careers – wherever they are in GB.
The change is going to be widely felt. At the end of last year, I was working on research looking at the impact the new prescribing roles will have on care teams, services and the system as a whole. It’s no exaggeration to say it will transform the way clinical teams work, and it’s going to have effects right across the system. I am really optimistic that it will greatly enhance healthcare for patients.
Against this backdrop of change, the need for a collaborative professional leadership body and a strong and unified voice for pharmacy has never been clearer. And to build this strong and unified voice we need to continue to work collaboratively across pharmacy and towards our common vision.
That’s why it’s important that members consider taking part in the upcoming elections to our new National Pharmacy Advisory Councils, which open this week. These elections are an exciting opportunity to make the governance of the new royal college equitable and inclusive of all.
The elections will give the opportunity to a new cohort of leaders to join our current elected members and together build a strong and dynamic royal college fit for the changing future of pharmacy. Standing as an elected member is a once in a generation opportunity for talented pharmacists from all backgrounds to help transform professional leadership in pharmacy, shape national pharmacy policy, and reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. We celebrate and encourage diverse voices across pharmacy and strive to create a culture of belonging including within our elected bodies. If you are thinking of standing, I can heartily recommend it as an opportunity to make a difference for pharmacy, patients and the public. But all of us can make a difference with our votes, so please be sure to cast yours.
I am excited about the year ahead and what it will bring - becoming a royal college will help build greater recognition for pharmacy and the work of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians with the public, policymakers and other healthcare professionals. 2026 marks the end of my term of office as President and I look forward to welcoming and supporting my successor – who will be the very first President of the Royal College of Pharmacy. I wish them every possible success, and I wish you all a happy, healthy and fulfilling year ahead.
Find out more about the elections to the National Pharmacy Advisory Councils.
Read more RPS blogs.