Hospital Pharmacist
Vol 10 No 1 p25-26
January 2003

Ian Simpson: A pharmacist with managerial skills

By Bob Leach, MPharm, FRPharmS

Ian Simpson, chief executive of the College of Pharmacy Practice, has had a varied career. Born in Northern Ireland, his first contact with pharmacy was as a school holiday assistant in Cecil McCrea's community pharmacy in Dungannon.

Mr Simpson went to the Belfast School of Pharmacy and did his practical training in community pharmacy in the city. Soon after qualifying, he moved to hospital pharmacy at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, and spent a year undertaking sterile production work. By this time, he was married to Margaret, a teacher, and they jointly decided to seek work abroad.

Zambia

Mr Simpson took up a post with the Zambian Government, sponsored by the Overseas Development Agency. He became pharmacist and hospital secretary at Kasama General Hospital, which is over 500 miles from the capital, Lusaka. The hospital was managed by a team consisting of a medical superintendent, a matron, and Mr Simpson. The medical superintendent oversaw clinical, X-ray and laboratory matters, and managed medical staff. The matron managed nursing and domestic personnel, and Mr Simpson handled administration, salaries, stores and transport, as well as the pharmacy. The 300-bed hospital also supported a leprosarium of 120 beds some 20 miles away, five subsidiary hospitals within a 100-mile radius (each with a single doctor but no pharmacist) and 12 health centres within 60 miles.

Mr Simpson was the only pharmacist for most of his three and a half years at Kasama General Hospital, although he had a principal medical assistant and a trained dispenser on the pharmacy staff. For a short period, the pharmacy also had the services of a volunteer technician from Denmark. Pharmaceutical duties included the preparation of British National Formulary mixtures, ointments and lotions, as well as servicing the wards and a busy outpatient department.

Mr Simpson says: "Maintaining a stock control system was one of my most important contributions, as we only received quarterly deliveries from Lusaka. Another important contribution, in the absence of electricity in the health centres, was the servicing of paraffin lamps.

"The experience in Zambia broadened my outlook and taught me how to concentrate on fundamentals to provide a simple service. Together with the principal medical assistant, I introduced individual patient dispensing for antibiotics and analgesics — an initial step towards clinical pharmacy and one-stop dispensing."

Oxford

Mr Simpson's experience abroad had prepared him for his next career moves, first as staff pharmacist at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, and, in 1976, as principal pharmacist/assistant pharmaceutical officer, for Oxford Regional and Area Health Authorities. This latter post reflected Mr Simpson's decision to focus on management, rather than clinical pharmacy. With the support and encouragement of Derrick Moon, the regional/area pharmaceutical officer, Mr Simpson worked for a diploma in management studies. He became a member of the British Institute of Management in 1979 and was upgraded in 1982 to fellow of the now Chartered Management Institute. During the late 70s, he also worked with Bryan Winsley and Don Gillyett to commission the pharmacy department at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, and to appoint its first staff.

In the absence of Derrick Moon, who was on extended sick leave, Mr Simpson was appointed acting regional/area pharmaceutical officer in 1980 and, following NHS reorganisation in 1982, he became district pharmaceutical officer for Oxfordshire. He therefore became responsible for the management of pharmaceutical services on all seven sites within Oxfordshire HA. This position enabled Ian to develop services, particularly in specialist areas, for example, the establishment of a district procurement service.

Another important achievement was developing the clinical pharmacy training programme in the Oxford Region, under the aegis of the Welsh School of Pharmacy. Mr Simpson worked on this project with Bryan Veitch, then the regional pharmaceutical officer.

Mr Simpson says: "During my time at Oxford, one of my most pleasurable memories is acting as preregistration tutor to a succession of enthusiastic students. Two of my students were Jeannette Howe, now Deputy Chief Pharmaceutical Officer at the Department of Health, and Penny Beck, now pharmacy superintendent for Tesco."

Pharmacy consultant

The 1991 NHS reorganisation converted the component hospitals of district health authorities into NHS trusts, often splitting up Noel Hall pharmaceutical services and displacing district officers. This was the case in Oxford, and Mr Simpson saw this as an opportunity to establish himself as a pharmaceutical services consultant. In this capacity, he retained the inspection of nursing homes for the health authority and secured sessional work as pharmaceutical adviser to Oxfordshire Family Health Services Authority. In this latter role, he specialised on contractual issues and service development in community pharmacy, for example, organising a waste disposal scheme and a needle exchange service. He strove to raise the profile of community pharmacy within the health authority. This followed many years of local branch work for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and association with the local pharmaceutical committee.

Other short-term projects undertaken during his time as a consultant included participation in a number of service reviews in the NHS, and work for the European Commission on contracts for the supply of medicines to the newly independent states of Eastern Europe. He also jointly authored and edited, "Pharmacy audit — balancing theory and practice", a self-study course published by the Northern Ireland Centre for Postgraduate Education and Training.

Guild secretary

In 1994, Mr Simpson was appointed professional secretary of the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists on a part-time basis. This was a newly established post, the guild having previously relied on a succession of volunteers, the most recent being Bill Brookes. The duties were primarily to ensure that the professional activities of the guild were kept to the fore. This entailed publicising the professional role of the guild within MSF, the trade union, and within the profession and across the NHS. It involved responding to consultation documents from the Medicines Control Agency and the Department of Health, and giving advice to trade union officers or health care pharmacists on matters such as regrading. Ian also provided guidance to pharmacists and legal advisers within the union.

Mr Simpson supported the development of special interest groups within the guild, particularly the procurement and distribution special interest group (PDIG). Ian worked closely with members of the PDIG, such as Howard Tebby (Pharmacia) and Allan Karr (University College Hospital, London), to form a successful partnership between the pharmaceutical industry and NHS procurement pharmacists.

European involvement

In 1996, Mr Simpson became the first professional secretary of the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP), and faced the challenge of setting up another new role. The responsibilities were similar to his guild work, except that they took him to more than a dozen European cities, and to the United States.

Mr Simpson concentrated on establishing firm links with national delegations and other organisations contributing to EAHP. Duties involved policy development and lobbying on professional matters with organisations such as the European Commission, the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Community, and the World Health Organization. Ian initiated a move for EAHP to be granted consultative status with the Council of Europe. This came to fruition shortly after he left the post at the end of last year.

Mr Simpson acknowledges the active role and support provided by Ron Pate (Dudley Group of Hospitals) in the strategic development of EAHP, and the leadership of Ged Lee (Medicines Control Agency) during his term of office as president of the guild.

A further responsibility was to encourage greater links with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). Mr Simpson was also involved in negotiations resulting in the appointment of EAHP as an agent for the sale of ASHP publications in Europe.

Chief executive

Last year, as impending NHS management changes moved towards the demise of health authorities and the establishment of the National Care Standards Commission, an opportunity arose for Mr Simpson to move from his three separate posts to the single role of chief executive of the College of Pharmacy Practice. He is the first full-time pharmacist to have been appointed to this position.

The college's mission is to promote professional and personal development of pharmacists through education, examination, practice and research, benefiting health and social care. In many ways, the college has anticipated the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's current impetus on continuing professional development (CPD), and both organisations are working closely together in developing CPD. The college recognises the needs of pharmacists working in specialised areas, through the establishment of faculties. The first two faculties — prescribing and medicines management, and neonatal and paediatric pharmacy — have now been formed. Mr Simpson is supporting the board of the faculty of prescribing and medicines management, which has now drawn up a competency framework and is establishing programmes of study to enable associates to meet these standards. The second faculty is progressing along similar lines.

Mr Simpson's main roles are to raise the profile of the college, to support the organisation to achieve its objectives, and to fulfil the duties of company secretary, for example, by advising the board of its statutory requirements to meet company law.

Since working at the college, Mr Simpson has been encouraged by the extent of training offered by both the pharmaceutical industry and publishers, and has noted that sponsoring bodies are increasingly seeking accreditation for this work. Over the past few years, the college has developed as an accrediting body for a wide range of pharmaceutical training for professional and technical staff within the health care field and the industry.

Other achievements

Mr Simpson has published over 20 papers in a wide range of journals and texts. He was secretary and vice-chairman of the National Association of Pharmaceutical Officers and founder chairman of the Pharmaceutical Advisers' Group. He has been chairman of both the Oxfordshire and Chiltern branches of the RPS. His contribution to the profession has been recognised by his designation as a fellow of the Society in 1997, and his election to honorary membership of the guild this year. His recent appointment as a non-executive director of the Pharmacy Healthcare Scheme is another recognition of his continuing achievements.

Looking back at his career, Mr Simpson said: "My career has developed in the management and organisation of pharmacy services, rather than in clinical pharmacy. I have been much happier applying a logical approach to professional development work, practical legal issues, staff support and management. It is important that pharmacists see their work as part of the wider delivery of health care, and select areas of practice where they can best contribute."