Royal college and regulator set out vision for future working together

Joint statement from the Chief Executives of the Royal College of Pharmacy and the General Pharmaceutical Council

Published: 30 April 2026

Kathie Cashell, Chief Executive and Registrar of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and Karen Baxter, Interim Chief Executive of the new Royal College of Pharmacy (RCPharm), today set out their shared intention to work collaboratively and constructively together to the benefit of patients and professionals.

“Our organisations have crucial but distinct roles: we share a strong commitment to supporting and driving excellence in practice, maintaining high standards of patient care and ensuring and supporting a skilled and confident pharmacy workforce. We are firmly in agreement that having open, positive discussions focussed on solutions will benefit patients, the public and professionals.

“In doing so, we recognise that we may have different perspectives, but we are committed to using the significant scope we have to collaborate, particularly in responding to the changing pharmacy landscape and evolving demands on pharmacy practice.

“Pharmacy is playing an increasingly central role within the wider health and care system, while advances in technology and medicines development bring further potential for pharmacy to positively impact patient care and public health.

“This is a valuable opportunity to strengthen understanding of the distinct and complementary roles of our two organisations amongst professionals and the public. Over the coming months, through ongoing dialogue and partnership working, we will build on our existing positive relationship to set out how we will both individually and collaboratively work to ensure the public are protected and pharmacy teams are supported to deliver excellence in patient care.”

Karen Baxter Kathie Cashell

Interim Chief Executive Chief Executive and Registrar

Royal College of Pharmacy General Pharmaceutical Council