Developing community pharmacy leadership across South East London
The challenge
NHS South East London Integrated Care Board (ICB) was embarking on an ambitious vision to re-energise community pharmacy and strengthen its integration with primary care. It had recruited around 40 new Community Pharmacy Neighbourhood Leads, funded for one day a month, to work across the 35 primary care networks in South East London.
The ICB needed to develop this group in two ways: as individual leaders with the knowledge, skills and behaviours to increase the influence and impact of community pharmacy locally, and as a thriving community of leaders who could support each other to succeed over time. With limited time for development and the constant pressure of operational demands, it needed a programme that would be engaging, practical and deliver real impact within tight timescales.
Our approach
We co-designed a six-month leadership development programme, running from September 2023 to March 2024, built around three of the Five Characteristics of a South East London System Leader: Building Trust, Driving Purposeful Collaboration and Catalysing Innovation.
Five interactive workshops combined face-to-face and digital sessions, using a learning, action and reflection method. Between sessions, participants took on practical “learning in action” projects, including observing system meetings, building relationships over informal coffees, and making micro-actions for change in their own practice.
We created a supportive peer community through WhatsApp groups and self-directed networking, while sharing monthly leadership tips and connecting participants to the wider South East London system leadership community. The programme was co-designed with existing community pharmacy leaders from Lambeth, so it was grounded in lived experience and local context.
Results
The programme developed both individual leadership and community connections across South East London’s community pharmacy leaders. Participants reported more confidence in their leadership roles and greater involvement in ICB work, and GPs began to recognise them and work more closely with them.
It built stronger relationships among community pharmacists and with key stakeholders across the system. Most importantly, it gave leaders practical tools and frameworks they could use straight away in their day-to-day work, from understanding different social styles to making change through micro-actions.
The programme has laid strong foundations for ongoing community pharmacy leadership development, and strengthened the profession’s influence and impact across the integrated care system.