Ms Oputu has now taken the top job at the pharmacy professional association's English arm, as announced by Ms Govind on Twitter today (June 20).

RPS England board member Ms Oputu was appointed at an RPS England meeting held today and Brendon Jiang was appointed as vice chair, according to RPS England board member Ciara Duffy.

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This morning, Ms Govind announced via Twitter that she would no longer be chair of the professional body in England.

“It’s been an absolute privilege to work with some amazing people to advocate for pharmacy and focus on policy,” she said in her “last message in [her] capacity as RPS chair in England”.

She thanked the RPS team, the board and pharmacy colleagues, saying that they “are the reason I do what I do”.

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“My ambition has and continues to be that pharmacy will always have a seat at the table and that you can’t move without hearing about our fab profession”, Ms Govind added.

Ms Govind was elected as chair in 2021, replacing Claire Anderson, and was the youngest person to be elected to the RPS’s English board, having served on it since 2018.

An avid Twitter user, Ms Govind has been a vocal proponent of the profession both on social media and in the wider press.

“Safe hands”

Speaking to C+D, outgoing chair Ms Govind said she was “delighted” by the election of Ms Oputu and Mr Jiang as chair and vice chair of the English pharmacy board, describing the pair as “safe hands”.

“Over the last two years, as a chair, I have been so proud of what we have achieved in raising the profile of the profession,” she told C+D, noting the RPS’s roundtable with the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) as a highlight in collaboration.

She said that during her tenure, “people haven't been able to move without hearing about the fantastic work of pharmacists”.

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Ms Govind told C+D that she would continue to “champion” the pharmacy profession as a “proud pharmacist”. She added that she was “delighted” to be elected to the RPS's assembly today.

“Pharmacists and those outside the profession can be reassured that I will be continuing to raise the profile of pharmacy – watch this space,” she said.

The RPS told C+D that it would announce the election results across the three country boards tomorrow, after the Scottish board has elected its own chair in the morning.