‘I’m delighted to be awarded a CBE. This is well-deserved recognition for the whole pharmacy profession and team.’

Laura McIver CBE, recently retired Chief Pharmacist at Healthcare Improvement Scotland, reflects on her Honour at an exciting time for the profession.

Laura McIver CBE FRpharmS has had an interesting 35-year career, reaching the most senior levels in the pharmacy profession and working across multiple national initiatives. Laura started out as a hospital pharmacist, where she found it hugely rewarding to work as an integral part of  multidisciplinary teams and directly with patients. Since then, Laura has held multiple senior roles in the hospital sector, followed by national roles. She was appointed the first Chief Pharmaceutical Officer at the Scottish Medicines Consortium in 2005 and the first Chief Pharmacist at Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) in 2011, blazing a trail for others. Laura has also worked on Scottish Government national strategies, including “Right Medicine” (now known as “Realistic Medicine) and patient safety initiatives.

Laura has now been recognised for her long dedication to the profession and patients, with the awarding of her CBE in the King’s New Year’s Honours. At an exciting time for the profession, with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Membership recently having voted for the organisation to become a Royal College, Laura met with Ross Barrow, Head of External Relations at Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland, to talk about her career and reflections for the future.

It’s fantastic to have been recognised by the King for your contribution to the profession and service of patients.  How does it feel to have been awarded such a significant Honour?

Nothing I have achieved has been on my own, but in collaboration with others in the pharmacy or wider multidisciplinary teams. So, I am delighted to receive this CBE, as a well-deserved recognition for the whole pharmacy profession and team. I have been passionate through my career about making sure that as a profession and pharmacy team we make the best use of everybody’s skills and talents. A focus for me has been professional leadership and a postgraduate qualification in coaching helped me to develop my skills further to bring the best out of others.

You were the first ever Chief Pharmacist at Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS). What was it like working in this senior role?

Being appointed Chief Pharmacist at HIS was significant, not just for me, but for the whole profession. Medicines and pharmacy teams are an integral part of the majority of healthcare services and therefore this role was critical to ensuring both medicines and pharmacy were given robust consideration within a wide range of national evidence, improvement and assurance programmes across Scotland.

At HIS, I worked as part of leadership teams across Scotland on several patient safety and digital healthcare innovations including electronic prescribing in hospitals which is a major plank of patient safety.

We’ve recently had the day of reflection, which marks five years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. What are your own reflections from the pandemic?

On a personal level I was very proud of “pharmacy” during a uniquely challenging time.  The importance of community pharmacy within the NHS and society was really brought to the fore.

At a national level the profession played a key leadership role helping to keep patients safe and ensure access to medicines. For example, in cancer care our work helped to keep people out of hospital and lessen the side effects of medication; a national initiative to ensure continuity of care for prisoners was implemented and consensus was reached across all care settings to enable access to essential medicines for all patients at end of life.  Through this work, we were able to shine a light on the strength that pharmacists bring to the multidisciplinary team and their ability to adapt to protect both patients and NHS services in changing circumstances. As a senior leader in the profession, it was a privilege to work with my professional colleagues responding to the challenges the pandemic presented.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society membership have just voted positively for the organisation to become a Royal College. What are your thoughts on this historic vote, and what do you see as the future for RPS?

I am pleased the RPS membership have voted to become a Royal College. I think this is a momentous and positive step for the whole profession.

I want my professional body to meet the aspirations of all pharmacists across everyday practice, education and research, and Royal College status will help deliver this.

I believe that every pharmacist has a responsibility to be a Member of RPS, and the new Royal College. Strengthening membership will strengthen both our ability to advocate for the profession and to be as effective a profession as it can be, both within the context of the multidisciplinary team and in our own right.