Professor Dame Jenny Harries, former deputy CMO for England, has been appointed as non-executive chair of the Community Pharmacy England (CPE) committee, it today (September 1) announced.
Harries also served as founding chief executive of UKHSA from 2021 until earlier this summer, the negotiator said in a statement.
Read more: CPE hiring independent chair at £50k for 3-4 days a month
In her new role as chair from today, Harries will lead the CPE committee, support “strong governance and strategic delivery” and work “closely with the executive team to enable effective engagement with business owners and wider stakeholders”, CPE added.
Harries said she is “really excited to be working so closely with community pharmacy”.
Read more: RPS appoints England director after six-month delay
“Pharmacies were critical stakeholders during my time in local public health teams and they are uniquely placed to provide care and support to those in the most deprived communities and with the most health need,” she added.
“I am keen to help nurture the sector, the professionals within it and the undoubted opportunities for improvements in health,” she said.
“An excellent addition”
CPE said Harries “brings a wealth of expertise from working in public health across all levels of government” and has “wide experience of clinical and public health science and practice, as well as health service commissioning”.
In addition to her previous roles as UKHSA chief executive and England’s deputy CMO, Harries has served as a director of public health and on the UK’s Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), it added.
Harries is also an honorary professor of health security in the School of Pharmacy at Nottingham University as of today, according to CPE.
Read more: Former pharmacist appointed as new GPhC chief standards officer
CPE chief executive Janet Morrison said Harries “will be an excellent addition to the committee” and brings “her extensive knowledge and experience to bear in [its] goal of securing a sustainable future for community pharmacy in challenging times”.
Harries “will undoubtedly prove a key asset as we champion the value of the sector, its huge clinical potential and the vital role it plays for patients and communities”, she added.
Morrison thanked outgoing chair Sue Killen “for all of her hard work and commitment to community pharmacy over the past six years, helping to steer the committee through a significant period of change”.
Read more: GPhC and NHSE appoint first joint pharmacy technician fellow
Killen, who completed her term at the end of August, said community pharmacy “has come such a long way” since she took up the role six years ago and that “while significant challenges remain”, she hopes to see the sector “continue to realise its potential in the coming years”.
Harries’ appointment comes after CPE announced in April that it was recruiting a new independent chair to “provide strategic leadership and oversight of its committee”.
According to a now-expired advert for the role, it pays £50,000 a year and requires a “time commitment” of just three to four working days per calendar month.