I am pleased to announce the membership of the Pharmacy Regulation and Leadership Oversight Group (PRLOG). The chair of the Group is Ken Jarrold CBE, a director of Dearden Consulting, who has made a significant contribution as a senior manager in the national health service over many years. The Chief Pharmaceutical Officers of the four United Kingdom Health Departments are members—Dr. Keith Ridge (Department of Health), Professor Bill Scott (Scottish Executive Health Department), Ms Carwen Wynne-Howell (Welsh Assembly Government) and Dr. Norman Morrow (Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Northern Ireland). Mr. Hemant Patel, President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, and Mr. Raymond Anderson, President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland, are also members. Professor Peter Noyce, who provided advice on professional matters to Lord Carter’s working party on pharmacy professional regulation and leadership, will be the professional adviser to the PRLOG.
In addition, other members of the PRLOG include:
Ms Tracey Boyce, a senior hospital pharmacist in Northern Ireland.
Ms Judith Cope, Chief Pharmacist at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust and honorary senior lecturer, the School of Pharmacy, University of London.
Professor Duncan Craig, Head of Pharmacy and Chair in Pharmaceutics at the University of East Anglia School of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy.
Mr. Robert Darracott, the Chief Executive of the Company Chemists Association.
Ms Jennifer de Val, President of the British Pharmacy Students Association, and a junior hospital pharmacist.
Mr. Stephen Griffin, Director of Personnel and Development at the County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust.
Professor Mayur Lakhani CBE, Chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Mr. Christopher Martin, who is active as a pharmacist and as an independent community pharmacy owner in Wales.
Ms Fiona Price, a pharmacy technician, based in Cardiff, Wales.
Mr. Duncan Rudkin, the Chief Executive and Registrar of the General Dental Council, and a former solicitor.
Professor Michael Schofield CBE, a former lay member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, who also has wide experience of the NHS.
Mr. James Semple, managing director of the TLC Pharmacy Group, which provides community pharmacy services in central Scotland.
Ms Rosie Varley OBE, Acting Chairman of the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence and Chairman of the General Optical Council.
I have asked the PRLOG to provide advice to Ministers on effective action to establish a new regulator, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), and to identify how leadership within the pharmacy profession can support the GPhC’s regulatory role. In doing so, the group will take into account broader action for regulatory reform set out in the White Paper, “Trust, Assurance and Safety—the Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21st Century”.