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The National Pharmacy Association has appointed Olivier Picard as its new chair and Sukhi Basra who becomes its first female vice-chair.

Picard takes over from Nick Kaye, whose two-year tenure coincided with the organisation putting a vote to its 6,000 members on collective action in protest at government funding for the first time in its 104-year history.

Picard, who served as NPA vice-chair, brings extensive pharmacy experience to the role as chair having been a community pharmacist for more than 20 years after completing his training in France.

He was an area manager at Moss Pharmacy until 2005 before setting up his own pharmacy business the following year.

Picard is also an NPA representative on Community Pharmacy England, a committee member at Community Pharmacy Thames Valley and a pharmacist manager at Newdays Pharmacy group.

Insisting Kaye will be “big shoes to fill”, Picard said: “I will keep asking ‘why are we here and how can we make things better, together?’

“For me the answer to that question is because we care, because we can see a system that can be better, because we believe that change is possible, and because we know that the people we serve – our patients, our communities and our colleagues deserve nothing less.”

Kaye said he was proud of what the NPA achieved during his time as chair. “In the last two years together we have achieved a lot, including a sustained media campaign raising the profile of members, our struggles and showcasing community pharmacy as a whole," he said.

“I do believe this moved the number positively in the English contract negotiations, whilst also supporting the entire membership across all four nations.

“Plus travelling to Scotland, Wales and Northern Island to see how the NPA uniquely works across these jurisdictions and sharing best practice which benefits us all.”

Basra, who has run CliniChem Pharmacy in Victoria for more than 25 years, said she was looking forward to taking up the role of vice-chair “on a board with the highest proportion of female representation in the NPA’s long history”.

“I am a keen advocate for raising the profile of community pharmacy, which is a humble profession that is frequently overlooked as a solution for important healthcare challenges,” she said.

“We are clinicians and specialists in the use of medicines, not shop keepers.” The NPA also appointed Baldev Bange as Treasurer.

Joining Picard and Basra on the NPA board for April 2025 to March 2027 are Kaye, David Thomas (Wales), Joanne Wolfe (Northern Ireland) Mike Hewitson, Baldev Bange, Ashley Cohen, Sanjay Ganvir, Salim Jetha, Aisling O’Brien, Sanjeev Panesar and Sehar Shahid (Scotland).

Board members who have left include Raj Aggarwal, Ian Cubbin, Michael Guerin, Andrew Lane and Raj Patel.