The Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) has announced changes to its leadership team, with chief executive Dr Leyla Hannbeck taking on the role of executive chair.
Related Article: Payment percentage for statutory branded medicines scheme drops to 16.5%
The shake-up follows the departure of David Vanns, who has stepped down as chair after two and a half years. IPA confirmed Dr Hannbeck will remain in her role as chief executive alongside this new responsibility.
The IPA board thanked Mr Vanns for his service, commenting that he had helped strengthen the organisation’s advocacy work during a period of major change for the sector.
Dr Hannbeck said: ‘I am grateful that the board have chosen to put their confidence in me. I will continue to work hard for members and to drive forward the organisation’s strategy and strengthen its ability to represent members effectively and with agility at a crucial time for the sector.’
Related Article: Research review: a look at the latest clinical papers
The board has also appointed long-standing member Dev Shah as non-executive chair, with the role designed to provide independent governance and accountability for the organisation.
Mr Shah said he was ‘delighted and honoured’ to take on the non-executive role at what he described as a pivotal time for community pharmacy.
Related Article: MenB vaccination programme to be rolled out in pharmacies
‘I look forward to working alongside our CEO/executive chair, colleagues and members to support, celebrate and strengthen the community pharmacy profession for the benefit of the communities we serve,’ he said.
Have your say
Please add your comment in the box below. You can include links, but HTML is not permitted. Please note that comments are not moderated before publication and the views expressed are those of the user and do not reflect the views of The Pharmacist. Remember that submission of comments is governed by our Terms and Conditions. You can also read our full guidelines on article comments here – but please be aware that you are legally liable for any libellous or offensive comments that you make. If you have a complaint about a comment or are concerned that a comment breaches our terms and conditions, please use the ‘Report this comment’ function to alert our web team.