“I’ve taken nine – no, more – I’ve taken ten flights in the last four weeks”. Not the words of a jet-setting movie star, but of outgoing NPA chair Nick Kaye.
While Kaye may have escaped red carpets and paparazzi over his two-year tenure, set to end this month, it’s clear that the role might have been more than he initially bargained for.
Sitting down with him days after the news on the long-awaited and unsatisfying pharmacy contract, we take a detour from discussing the NPA’s next move (another entry on the to-do list) to reflect on the role.
“The amount of stuff that you have to deal with – how you facilitate the organization, having to make the decisions within the governance structures, you also have the huge responsibility of trying to guide it, I think is the thing that surprised me – the amount of work,” he tells C+D.
“I took over the chair feeling absolutely nauseous and awful…it’s the weight of responsibility I think that does that”
But since taking over from predecessor Andrew Lane in 2023, the NPA has seen growing numbers and national recognition.
“We expected our membership to drop by 1.8% through natural attrition over two years, and it’s gone up by 630 members to over 6000-6500 its huge, I mean it’s massive,” Kaye says.
“Somebody described it to me as ‘the old lady of pharmacy has been rumbled and woken up’ and I’m not sure if I’m insulted or I’m pleased with that, but, you know, the campaigning and all that kind of stuff has been amazing,” he adds.
“Unbelievable”
But the tenure hasn’t all been smooth sailing.
“The amount of time it takes you from family and friends and stuff, it’s unbelievable,” Kaye says.
“It is tricky – I mean, and with the last government, I remember one of the special advisors for primary care rang me on a Saturday to say, ‘We’re going to make an announcement about Pharmacy First’“.
“Meanwhile, I’m walking around the shopping centre with my wife and three of my five kids hanging off me in Plymouth, and they’re going ‘who was that?’ – It was number 10”.
“You get some amazing stuff to do,” Kaye reflects.
“The day I went to a garden party and saw the King chatting to Lionel Richie, is a day where you think, that’s a bit odd, I’m having an unusual day today,” he adds.
“I mean, it’s just huge amounts of stuff that’s gone on, but all the time hearing the stories of the members absolutely struggling”.
“The hardest part has been the personal sort of stories – ‘I’ve remortgaged my house’, ‘Tell me it’s going to get better’”.
“It’s all about trying to make a difference,” he adds.
“I will let you in on a secret”
What’s next for Kaye? “I’m still on the NPA board for another two years, lobbying things in from the back benches,” he promises.
“There’s an NPA position to sit on NPA Insurance (NPA I) so I will probably try and help guide the insurance and industry and new sort of stuff”.
“And then I’ve started a business on the Isle of Man, which is where I am today”.
“So, Cornwall local pharmaceutical committee (LPC), Cornwall integrated care board (ICB), bit of Isle of Man, some NPA I, and try and annoy the new chair as much as possible – life will be truly wonderful,” he laughs.
In addition to those positions – “one job for each of my five children” – Kaye lets C+D “in on a secret”.
“Controversially, I am really enjoying running the private weight loss clinics. Seeing people lose weight and transform their lives is unbelievable”.
“When we opened the Isle of Man clinic in June we wrote six prescriptions, and last month we wrote 374 prescriptions”.
“I started eight weeks ago” he spills, adding that he’s dropped over two stone since.
Maybe Kaye’s not so far from Hollywood after all.
