Community Pharmacy England (CPE) today (April 4) announced that it is “seeking an independent chair to provide strategic leadership and oversight of its committee”.
“With our current chair, Sue Killen, due to complete her term of office later this year, we have initiated a recruitment process to find a replacement,” it said.
Read more: CPE ‘reluctantly accepted’ funding offer amid ‘impossible position’
“This important role involves steering the committee’s work as the governing body, supporting the executive team managing and engaging with external stakeholders,” it added.
According to CPE, “the role is renumerated at £50,000 for a time commitment of 3-4 days per calendar month”.
“Significant challenge”
“As our new independent chair, you will join at a time of significant challenge and opportunity, when we’ll be establishing with government and the NHS a new plan for community pharmacy in line with the NHS 10-year Health Plan,” the body said.
“This will require us to bed in robust relationships of trust with ministers and health care leaders...and strengthen the national, regional and local community pharmacy infrastructure in line with NHS decentralisation,” it added.
Read more: ‘CPE is falling into a trap’ - pharmacy reacts to funding deal
Interested candidates have until 12 pm on May 2 to apply, CPE said, adding that “the ideal candidate will have substantial experience of chairing boards or advisory bodies, particularly in complex environments”.
“We must appoint [someone] of the utmost integrity,” it said, stressing that they must be “politically and commercially savvy...[and] influential”.
It comes after CPE and the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) this week announced the long-awaited pharmacy funding deal for 2025/26.
Read more: CPE: Almost half of £645m recovery plan funds unspent
The deal represents an 18.6%, or £481 million, increase on 2023/24 sector funds, which had stayed at a fixed rate of £2.592bn since a five-year contract was agreed in 2019.
Meanwhile, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) last week (March 28) announced the appointment of its new chief executive, Henry Gregg, who will join the organisation at the end of May.
Gregg replaces Paul Rees who confirmed to the body in November that he would be “stepping down to become the interim chief executive and registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council” in January.
