By Harry McQuillan
A decade ago, when the Community Pharmacy Patient Safety Group (CPPSG) first came together, it did so with a simple but powerful idea: that patient safety in community pharmacy is a shared responsibility.
Today, as the group celebrates its 10th anniversary and Numark begins its first full year as sponsor, we reflect on not only on how far we have come, but on why this work has never been more important.
When the CPPSG was established in February 2015, Medication Safety Officers from across larger pharmacy groups and membership organisations made a conscious decision to collaborate. They chose to meet regularly, share experiences and learn from near misses.
Importantly, they recognised that safety is not a competitive issue; it is a collective one. Beyond pharmacy brands patients simply trust that the care they receive will be safe – and it’s our collective responsibility to ensure that it is.
Over the past ten years, the CPPSG has built an impressive programme of work. The group has encouraged greater reporting and learning from incidents, investigated key risks through audits and data collection, and explored the human factors that influence dispensing and clinical decision-making.
It has also looked beyond pharmacy, learning from safety-critical industries such as aviation that have long understood the importance of systems thinking and risk management.
At Numark, our decision to support the CPPSG through sponsorship is rooted in our purpose. We exist to support more than 6,000 community pharmacies to enhance their performance and deliver safe, effective pharmaceutical care.
Sponsoring this group is a natural extension of that commitment. Safety is not an optional extra; it is fundamental to the future of community pharmacy.
This belief sits firmly within the spirit of the Numark 12 Principles of Community Pharmacy. These principles are not simply a checklist; they are a framework for excellence. They emphasise professionalism, patient-centred care, continuous improvement and strong leadership. Above all, they reinforce that patient safety must sit at the heart of everything we do.
A true safety culture cannot be imposed from above. It must be lived every day in pharmacies across the country. It is present when a team member feels confident to report a near miss. It is present when processes are reviewed and improved after an incident. And it is present when leaders create environments where openness, learning and accountability thrive.
One of the most important lessons from the past decade is the role of human factors in pharmacy practice. We know that errors rarely occur because individuals do not care; they happen when systems are under pressure.
Workload, interruptions, staffing challenges and increasing service demands all contribute to risk. A modern approach to patient safety recognises this reality and focuses on improving systems rather than assigning blame.
Community pharmacy is currently operating in one of the most challenging environments in its history. Demand continues to grow, services are expanding and teams are working incredibly hard to meet the needs of their communities. These pressures make the work of the CPPSG even more critical. Now more than ever, we must share learning, use data intelligently and design safer ways of working.
The next decade will bring new opportunities and new challenges. Technology and automation will play a larger role in dispensing and clinical services. Digital integration will transform how we communicate across the healthcare system. These advances hold enormous potential to reduce risk and enhance patient safety but only if they are implemented thoughtfully and with pharmacy teams at the centre.
As we look to the future, collaboration will remain the cornerstone of progress. No single organisation can solve patient safety alone. By working together across the sector, we can build stronger systems, share best practice and ensure that learning is applied widely and effectively.
I am incredibly proud that Numark is supporting the CPPSG at this pivotal moment. Our sponsorship is a statement of intent: that patient safety is a priority we are willing to invest in, champion and lead and ultimately, the success of community pharmacy will always be measured by the trust of our patients.
(Harry McQuillan is chairman of Numark)
