Meet the Advisory Board: meet the returning members
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Made up of experienced leaders working across the sector; at a strategic and frontline level, the Board plays a vital role in shaping the direction of the Pharmacy Show.
Drawing on real-world experience, members provide honest challenge, expert insight and practical guidance to ensure our content reflects the realities facing pharmacy today. Their input helps us stay relevant, credible and forward-looking and ensures the programme supports the profession through change.
Yousaf Ahmad, Director of Medicines Optimisation and Chief Pharmacist, NHS Frimley ICS
Yousaf has worked in Pharmacy and the wider pharmaceutical industry for over 20 years. He has extensive experience within secondary care, having worked primarily in large acute health boards in Scotland and in the Middle East. He has represented pharmacy at a national level through committee memberships and chairmanships with UK Clinical Pharmacy Association (UKCPA) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society bodies. Yousaf also holds several non-executive and board roles at various institutions, including a digital health care company and several peer-reviewed research houses, while also currently being a member of the governing Council at the General Pharmaceutical Council.
Yousaf is a fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and he has written several research papers, with a notable writing accolade in a pharmaceutical encyclopaedia that was commissioned by Elsevier. He also holds several postgraduate and undergraduates’ degrees in Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacy and Healthcare Leadership.
Matt Barclay, Chief Executive Officer, Community Pharmacy Scotland
Having graduated from Strathclyde University in 1999, Matt embarked on a career in pharmacy that spans over two decades. Following his pre-registration year, he dedicated over ten years to working as a community pharmacist, gaining considerable experience in various localities. In 2008, Matt achieved independent prescriber status, leveraging this qualification to deliver hypertension services directly from his community pharmacy. During his tenure in Forth Valley, Matt served for over five years as a community pharmacy practitioner champion, actively supporting and fostering collaboration within the local pharmacy network. This engagement extended to various Health Board governance aspects, where he participated in committees such as Pharmacy Practices, APC, ADTC, and the local Primary Care Prescribing Group, acquiring valuable insights into diverse facets of healthcare.
Matt’s association with Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) has evolved progressively, reaching its current pinnacle with his role as the new Chief Executive Officer. However, Matt still maintains a hands-on approach, continuing to contribute as a locum pharmacist to ensure his connection to the grassroots of community pharmacy remains intact.
Vikki Furneaux, Manager, Monkbar Pharmacy
Vikki is currently CEO and an Independent Pharmacist Prescriber at Monkbar Pharmacy, a single site 100-hour independent pharmacy in York. After graduating from the University of Bradford back in 2005, Vikki made her career within the NHS where she gained two post graduate diplomas and experience of working in clinical services, managing technical services. She even had a tint working within academia at the University of Leeds too. Her switch to community pharmacy came in 2019. She is also a busy Mum to 3 pre-teen children. Her aim is to embed multi-disciplinary team working between local community pharmacists, GPs and other healthcare professionals, increase the confidence of those within and out of the profession in pharmacy and expand service offerings.
Dr Leyla Hannbeck, Chief Executive Officer, Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA)
Dr Leyla Hannbeck is the CEO of Independent Pharmacies Association, representing a significant number of independent community pharmacies in England and Wales. As a pharmacist herself, Leyla is passionate about pharmacy and patient care and does a lot of advocacy work to promote the profession to the wider public, media, politicians and influence the direction of travel for the profession in the wider healthcare landscape. She is the key spokesperson for community pharmacy network and a prominent representative for the sector. Her career started in Sweden, where she conducted her studies in clinical pharmacy. Leyla moved to the UK in 2004 working her way up from pharmacist branch manager to senior management positions in the healthcare sector. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Great Britain.
Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive Officer, The Company Chemists' Association (CCA)
Malcolm is the Chief Executive of the Company Chemists’ Association (CCA), the trade body for multiple pharmacies in England, Scotland and Wales. Previously Malcolm worked as part of the Walgreens Boots Alliance International Healthcare Public Affairs team. He was also a Fellow of the NHS Innovation Accelerator programme, working with NHS England and the Academic Health Science Networks to develop new ways in which innovation and technology can be brought to market at scale within the NHS.
Malcolm has been a registered pharmacist for over 25 years, having previously worked in a variety of roles within Boots UK both as a pharmacist and within retail operations. He holds a CIPR Diploma in Public Affairs and is chairman of the charity Pharmacy Research UK.
Alison Hemsworth, Independent Consultant and Founder, Pharmacy Technicians International
Alison has had a unique and varied career which started in hospital pharmacy. However, most of her career has been dedicated to the commissioning and development of community pharmacy in England. Whilst working in the NHS, she led on many high-profile national projects relating to community pharmacy – the most notable one being the introduction of the Community Pharmacy Seasonal Flu Vaccination Service.
Alison is an Honorary Visiting Senior Fellow in Pharmacy Policy at the University of Bradford and serves as a member of the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences External Advisory Board. In addition to professional qualifications, Alison has been a finalist in both the Women in the City Future Leaders Award and similarly the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK) Leadership Award.
Alison’s most recent achievement is being the founder of Pharmacy Technicians International.
Paula Higginson, Head of Learning Development, Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE)
Paula Higginson is the Head of Learning Development at the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE), where she leads the design and creation of innovative educational programmes for pharmacy professionals. With a background in pharmacy and extensive experience in workforce development, Paula is passionate about empowering practitioners through high-quality, learner-centred education. She plays a pivotal role in shaping CPPE’s strategic learning initiatives to meet the evolving needs of the NHS.
Gareth Jones, Director of External and Corporate Affairs, National Pharmacy Association (NPA)
Gareth is the Director of External and Corporate Affairs at the NPA, and leads the policy, public affairs and governance functions within the Association. On behalf of NPA members he works with government, regulatory, representative, industry and patient representative bodies. He liaises with pharmacy associations across the world through the NPA's membership of the European (PGEU) and global (World Pharmacy Council) organisations.
Zoe Long, Director of Communications, Corporate and Public Affairs, Community Pharmacy England
Zoe joined Community Pharmacy England (then PSNC) after five years working as a journalist and then News Editor at Chemist+Druggist magazine. Zoe oversees Community Pharmacy England’s communications and engagement with pharmacy owners and all other stakeholders. She works to promote community pharmacy widely and to influence policy for the benefit of pharmacies through a programme of public affairs and influencing work. She has responsibility for media, social media and all digital communications functions and strategy, and for ensuring that pharmacy owners can access the information that they need from Community Pharmacy England.
Aled Roberts, Associate Director Contractor Engagement, Community Pharmacy Wales
Aled is Associate Director for contractor engagement at Community Pharmacy Wales, providing contractual support for contractors across Wales and leading on collaborative and digital work streams for the organisation. He qualified as an independent prescriber in 2021 and regularly locums delivering the community pharmacy independent prescribing service. He is also an RPS Wales board member.
Shilpa Shah, CEO, Community Pharmacy North East London, and Independent Expert Member, UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board
Shilpa has been a pharmacist for 25 years and has spent her career in Community Pharmacy. She has worked for two large multiples and is now CEO CPNEL following a two year stint at Kent LPC. Shilpa is passionate about Community Pharmacy and what it can offer local communities and the NHS. Outside of pharmacy Shilpa is a listening volunteer at Samaritans and a volunteer pharmacist at Crisis at Christmas.
Clare Smith, Lead Pharmacist, Learning Development Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE)
Clare is a lead pharmacist for learning development at CPPE, with over ten years of experience. She leads key initiatives including embedding patient and public involvement in learning and ensuring accessibility in e-learning. Clare’s background in community pharmacy informs her commitment to inclusive, impactful education.
Charis Stacey, Assistant Director, Digital Primary Care, NHS England
Charis, a cardiac nurse by training, has been involved in strategic change and innovation programmes in the NHS for the last 25 years. She has led programmes to deliver digitally enabled improvement across secondary, primary and community services, both locally and nationally at NHSX. Focused on system, scale and sustainability she is currently the Assistant Director for Digital Primary Care at NHS England.
Graham Stretch, President, Primary Care Pharmacy Association (PCPA)
Graham has practiced in Primary Care for more than three decades, developing an interest in deploying pharmacy teams with full skill mix from trainees to advanced practitioners across general practice, PCN, care homes and community. Training and research are at the heart of Graham's work. Graham has held a portfolio of roles as a GP Practice Partner, PCN Clinical Director, Chief Pharmacist, GP Federation Lead & ICB Workforce Chair. Graham is a Fellow of RPS and honorary member of APTUK. Although he practices as a generalist, Graham is best known for innovative work with older people in various care settings, particularly those with dementia or at end of life.
Ade Williams MBE, Superintendent Pharmacist and Clinical Lead, Bedminster Pharmacy
Ade is a multi-award-winning prescribing Pharmacist with extensive experience covering Service Design, Governance, and Research. He sits on the General Pharmaceutical Council—the pharmacy professional regulator. Ade is the Independent Non-Executive Chair for Quality at the Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board (BSW ICB) and a Non-Executive Director at the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. He is a Trustee and Board Member of the Self Care Forum Charity and a Public Health England Vaccine Hero.
Recognition for his work includes the NHS Parliamentary Award for Excellence in Primary Care and an MBE for services to the NHS, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's highest accolade—the Charter Award and is also the Pharmacy profession's Patient Champion. The University for the West of England and the University of Portsmouth have both conferred on him Honorary Doctorates for his contributions to the NHS. The UK Faculty of Public Health awarded him honorary membership by distinction.
Health Service Journal (HSJ) cited Ade as: "an individual whose ideas should influence and shape the direction of the NHS." He is part of many government, national, and professional multi-disciplinary working groups and campaigns, with a reputation for bringing enthusiastic, pragmatic input that offers scalable interventions for complex health and policy matters, alongside a passion for engaging and empowering patients.
James Wood, Director of Member and LPC Support, Community Pharmacy England
James joined Community Pharmacy England in January 2021 as Community Pharmacy Englands first Director of Contractor & LPC Support. His role includes being a member of the Community Pharmacy England Leadership Team – leading on Contractor/LPC and Community Pharmacy England partnership, and participating in the Community Pharmacy England Negotiating Team. He is responsible for maintaining effective networks with contractors and contractor representative groups, including the 70 LPCs in England.
James qualified as a pharmacist in 2004. He has had a diverse career in the sector and beyond in the wider NHS, including as a pharmacy contractor and Superintendent Pharmacist in Sheffield. James has been involved in local pharmacy representation via LPCs for most of his professional career; first as a governing member and latterly for over 9 years as a Chief Executive Officer.
In 2018 James was designated a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in recognition of the advancement of pharmacy practice.
Join us in 2026
The Pharmacy Show will return to the NEC Birmingham on 11-12 October 2026 for another inspiring edition. Register your interest now to be part of this year’s flagship event.
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