NPA chief executive Paul Rees “has confirmed that he will be stepping down to become the interim chief executive and registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council” (NMC), the membership body today (November 18) announced.
He will join the NMC on a one-year contract on January 20 and will “oversee the establishment of a multi-year programme to transform the NMC’s culture and performance”, it said.
The NPA will engage a “leading recruitment agency to help identify its next chief executive to lead the next stage of the NPA’s campaigning and support for members”, it added.
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It “hopes to make an appointment in the New Year”, it said.
Rees joined the NPA in November last year and has led the organisation through its first-ever two days of national protest, its first-ever collective action ballot and the Save Our Pharmacies campaign and petition.
The NPA said that he “has helped to energise the organisation”.
“A real wrench to leave”
“I’ve totally loved my time working with the brilliant staff and board teams at the NPA”, the outgoing chief executive said.
“Working as a team, we’ve completely modernised the NPA and turned it into a high-profile campaigning organisation fighting for a fair deal for community pharmacy – while continuing to deliver a range of great services for independent community pharmacies”, he added.
“Now the foundations of the new, modernised NPA are firmly in place, I know the organisation will continue to grow and thrive,” Rees said.
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He added that the NPA “has a very bright future – as the voice of community pharmacy, delivering excellent learning and development, brilliant pharmacy advice and support, and gold standard pharmacy insurance”.
“It will be a real wrench to leave and it’s been a decision I’ve had to wrestle with,” he said, adding that he has “been deeply affected by working with the NPA”.
“Community pharmacy will always have a special place in my heart, even as I move into another part of the healthcare sector,” Rees said.
“Stronger than ever”
NPA chair Nick Kaye said that he is “enormously grateful” to Rees and the “brilliant NPA team who are doing so much to raise the profile of community pharmacy, campaign for a better deal and improve our outstanding support to members”.
“The NPA is stronger than ever and everything the team does is there to support our members and their teams, who work tirelessly to support their communities,” he added.
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Kaye stressed that the NPA board and senior team are “pressing ahead with [its] very successful campaigning”.
“We’re excited about how we can build even better support and advocacy for our members in the months to come,” he said.
“Racism, discrimination and bullying”
Rees’ appointment to the nurses’ regulator follows an independent culture review led by Nazir Afzal OBE that found that “people working in the organisation had experienced racism, discrimination and bullying”, according to the NPA.
“Despite loving the NPA, the pull of helping the NMC to eliminate racism and bullying from within the organisation, embed a positive and inclusive culture, and improve the quality of patient care through the regulation of, and support for, the UK’s 826,000 nurses, midwives and nursing associates, is just too great,” he said.
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He added that ensuring the regulator “can respond to the shocking findings of the culture review…is an urgent matter for patients, nursing and midwifery professionals, the staff of the NMC, and the nation at large”.
“It is because of the scale of the challenge and the need to move with urgency and at pace, that the NMC has asked me to join the team in mid-January,” Rees said.
NMC Council chair Sir David Warren welcomed him to the new role, saying that Rees “has the experience, drive and personal values” to build a “strong and united leadership team” and “trust and confidence” in the regulator.
Campaigning leader
Rees replaced Mark Lyonette, who announced his plans to retire in 2024 after spending five years in the role.
Immediately prior to the NPA, he was chief executive of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) for seven years and before that, he worked as a journalist for The Times, Sunday Telegraph and BBC national network news.
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He then moved into communications and co-led several successful campaigns – including a “right to roam” campaign at the Ramblers Association and a campaign against pre-payment meter tariffs at the National Housing Federation.
After working in several other communications positions, including as head of communications at the Home Office, Mr Rees moved into healthcare policy, becoming the director of policy and engagement at the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).