The formal search for a new permanent chief pharmaceutical officer for Scotland has kicked off.

The position is currently being filled on an interim basis by Professor Alison Strath, who took on the role when Rose Marie Parr stepped down in September 2020.

The £80,000-a-year job involves acting as the Scottish government’s most senior advisor on ‘all aspects’ of medicines and pharmaceutical policy, education, research and practice.

The successful applicant – who is required to be, and remain, a registered pharmacist – will advise on ‘relevant capital schemes’ including ePharmacy, hospital electronic prescribing systems and specialist services such as manufacture some medicines by the NHS.

High up the list of priorities will be delivering an SNP campaign pledge to create an NHS National Pharmaceutical Agency to ensure secure and sustainable supply chains for medicines.

Applications to the role close at the end of this month with an announcement of the successful candidate in June.

Professor Rose Marie Parr pushed back her planned retirement scheduled for early 2020 due to the pandemic.

The former CPO had overseen the launch of NHS Pharmacy First, which expands the role of community pharmacists in diagnosing and prescribing treatment for a series of common conditions.

“The one thing that I have missed out on, and others now have the opportunity to embrace, is being a prescriber,” Professor Parr said in an interview last year.

“I think utilising pharmacists’ knowledge and skills around prescribing, being the actual prescriber, taking accountability and responsibility for those medicines decisions, will be at the heart of the ‘new normal’ for pharmacy and a huge opportunity for our profession.”

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