The National Pharmacy Association’s (NPA) new chief executive Henry Gregg – who joined at the end of last month – has said he had a “lively start” to his new job at the helm of the membership organisation.
Speaking at a press briefing yesterday (June 18), he revealed that pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock had sent him “a very nice letter” ahead of starting his new role, saying he was “really keen to meet” the new chief executive.
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And Gregg added that he had already met with chief pharmaceutical officer (CPhO) for Northern Ireland Cathy Harrison and had plans to talk to Scotland’s CPhO Alison Strath today.
“[I’m] really keen to do these meetings as soon as possible to start building that relationship” with key stakeholders that is “absolutely critical”, he said.
NPA bus crash
And less than a week into the job, Gregg was faced with a far from ordinary dilemma.
He received a call that a bus had “crashed into the front of the NPA” building in St Albans, he told briefing attendees.
“Two buses have crashed into each other and they’ve gone across the taxi rank, hit four taxis, knocked down a tree and went straight into the front of the scaffolding outside the building,” he said.
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“Luckily no one was injured and...the building came out mainly unscathed, but it was definitely a lively start to my job,” he said.
“I did ask whether community pharmacy is always that lively,” he added, “so we’ll see whether it continues to be”.
Collective action?
Meanwhile, Gregg also refused to rule out recommending collective action to its members again in the future.
Responding to a question from Pharmacy Business, he said that the association would “look at all options” if talks were to arise again in the future.
“Long-term campaigns sometimes have to take on different tactics at different times,” he said, adding that the priority right now is to “build relationships” with the government to put the NPA “in a strong position”.
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Gregg also touched on the highly anticipated 10-year health plan during the briefing, saying that if the government is “serious about spending less in...hospitals and also freeing up GP capacity, community pharmacy has to be part of the solution”.
“What COVID-19 has shown us is that pharmacies are valued by the public as a critical piece of the NHS and a critical piece of primary care” and they should not “be seen as a Cinderella service or second tier”, he urged.
The NPA announced earlier this year that Gregg would take up his post as the new chief executive on May 27, leaving his position as director of external affairs at charity Asthma+Lung UK.
