Overview
In this thought-provoking episode, Johnathan sits down with Professor Zubin Austin to explore how the traditional foundations of pharmacy — knowledge and expertise — are being disrupted by artificial intelligence, misinformation, and changing societal values. Together, they unpack what this means for pharmacists’ professional identity, leadership, and the evolving power dynamics within healthcare.

Key Themes & Discussion Points:

• The Myth of the “Expert in Medicines”

  • Pharmacy’s historical reliance on expert power as defined by French & Raven’s classic social power model.

  • The self-anointed nature of expertise — and why it may no longer be enough.

• AI and the Erosion of Informational Power

  • How AI democratises knowledge and challenges professional authority.

  • The rise of “health influencers” and the collapse of shared truth in the post-expert era.

• Leadership and the Power Gap in Pharmacy

  • Insights from research showing pharmacists’ discomfort with using power explicitly.

  • Why leadership education must evolve beyond charisma toward genuine influence and accountability.

• Learning from Nursing: The Power of Care

  • Nursing’s success in defining itself through care rather than knowledge.

  • The origins of pharmaceutical care in the 1990s — and how it can be reimagined today.

  • Can pharmacists redefine their identity around care, empathy, and patient outcomes?

• Pharmaceutical Care 2.0 — The Five Pillars

  1. Put patients first

  2. Define clear, reproducible standards of care

  3. Integrate fully across health professions

  4. Deliver measurable outcomes through innovation

  5. Align payment with system-wide value

• The Central Question:

  • When expertise is no longer enough, is the power of care enough?

Looking Ahead:
This conversation sets the stage for the 2026 Pharmacy in Practice Conference, themed around “Power, Leadership, and the Future of Pharmacy.”
📅 Date: March 25th, 2026
📍 Location: Novotel Edinburgh Park, Edinburgh
🎟️ Registration: Now open at [Pharmacy in Practice website]

Credits:
Hosted by Johnathan Laird
Guest: Professor Zubin Austin
Produced by Pharmacy in Practice

In this episode of the Pharmacy in Practice Podcast, host Johnathan Laird and guest Chief Executive of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Paul Bennett discuss leadership challenges, the evolution of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), and the future of pharmacists.

Key Discussion Points:

• Discussion and acknowledgement of leadership challenges, particularly in balancing diverse organisational interests.
• Discussion on the RPS and its evolving relevance to pharmacists.
• Bennett provides insights into the RPS's transformation since 2010, including membership decline and efforts to demonstrate value.
• Debate over whether the RPS prioritises organisational survival over representing pharmacists' interests.
• Exploration of the potential establishment of a Royal College of Pharmacy and its implications for the profession.
• Discussion on maintaining independence while ensuring organisational sustainability.
• Explanation of the upcoming Special Resolution Vote on RPS’s Royal Charter changes.
• Key questions about the RPS’s mission, independence, and expected changes for pharmacists were raised.

Tune in for an insightful conversation on leadership, governance, and the evolving landscape of pharmacy.

In this episode of the Pharmacy in Practice podcast, host Johnathan Laird sits down with U.S. pharmacist Steve Smoke for an insightful conversation spanning the current political climate in the U.S., the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in pharmacy, and innovative approaches to patient care.

We are also joined by our fantastic new editor, Grace Lewis, and we are revealing our new podcast jingle.

Johnathan and Steve share their unique perspectives, shaped by their experiences in Scotland and the U.S., respectively. Highlights include:

AI in Pharmacy:

Johnathan’s enthusiasm for AI and its potential to revolutionize pharmacy.

Steve’s Professional Journey:

Transitioning from clinical pharmacy to informatics, a path shaped by experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. His upcoming role as the lead informatics pharmacist for his health system.

Innovative Concepts in Pharmacy:

Steve’s advocacy for current vaccines and the potential for new vaccines to combat resistant pathogens.

Categorizing AI’s potential applications into clinical pharmacy, operations, and administrative tasks.

Tune in to Learn:

How AI is shaping the future of pharmacy.

Follow Us: Stay updated with the latest episodes and discussions by subscribing to the Pharmacy in Practice podcast.

Breaking the Cycle: How Pharmacists Can Lead the Fight Against Scotland's Drug Death Crisis

Guest: Professor Catriona Matheson

Episode Summary:
In this thought-provoking episode, we sit down with Professor Catriona Matheson, an accomplished pharmacist, researcher, and advocate for harm reduction in tackling Scotland’s drug-related death crisis. With one of the highest drug-related mortality rates in Europe, Scotland faces a pressing challenge. Professor Matheson shares her insights, highlighting the crucial role pharmacists and pharmacy teams play in reducing harm, saving lives, and addressing stigma in the community.

We discuss:

This episode is packed with actionable advice, inspiring stories, and a vision for the future of pharmacy in tackling substance misuse.

Key Takeaways:

Resources Mentioned in the Episode:

Upcoming Event:

📅 Don’t miss the Pharmacy in Practice Conference on 12th March 2025 at The Novotel Edinburgh Park! Join us for a day of impactful sessions, networking opportunities, and actionable insights to shape the future of pharmacy.

Register at www.pharmacyinpractice.uk

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review and share it with your colleagues. Let’s keep the conversation going about how pharmacy can transform lives and communities.

I was very pleased to be joined by Paul Forsyth and Barry Maguire to discuss the application of the collaborative care model in pharmacy.

The Collaborative Care Model: Realizing healthcare values and increasing responsiveness in the pharmacy workforce

Georgia coordinates and teaches Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) and systematic review modules for the undergraduate Medical School. She has a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil/PhD) in Epidemiology from the University of Oxford (2021) and expertise in quantitative observational research, open data, open science and evidence synthesis. Georgia's list of publications is here. 

Georgia founded and leads the Preventable Deaths Tracker. She is an Open Data Institute (ODI) Research Fellow, an Associate Editor of BMJ Evidence Based Medicine, a Fellow of Reproducible Research Oxford (RROx), a Centre for Open Science (COS) Ambassador, a member of the Catalogue of Bias Collaboration, on the Steering Group for the Declaration to Improve Health Research, and a founding member of the Transparent & Open Research Collaboration in Health (TORCH).

Georgia welcomes supervision queries from undergraduate and graduate students on taught and research programmes who are interested in pursuing research in the following areas: 

Georgia also welcomes contributions to the Preventable Deaths Tracker and Oxford Catalogue of Opioids.

Here are some links I mentioned in the podcast.

We were delighted to welcome Yasmin Karsan to the podcast to chat all things artificial intelligence.

Episode Synopsis

Johnathan and Yasmin discuss the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning on pharmacy practice. They acknowledged the difficulty in fully understanding this technology and its potential impact on the industry, including the existential questions it raises. Despite this, they express excitement for the possibilities that AI and machine learning can bring to pharmacy practice. They also discuss the challenges faced by community pharmacy in the wider NHS system and the need for better communication, stakeholder engagement, and technology.

Yasmin shares her entrepreneurial journey, including her experience in an accelerator program that helped her find a co-founder and develop an idea for a private prescribing tool to support pharmacies. She also discusses her current focus on developing a pharmacogenomics business using AI to target patients in a precise way. Karsan acknowledges the challenges of innovating in healthcare, including the resistance to change in the industry and the paternalistic mindset that can still exist. She also highlights the importance of networking and learning from experts in different fields when building a business.

Yasmin and Johnathan explore the potential benefits and challenges of incorporating AI in healthcare. They discuss the concerns around data privacy and bias, and the importance of recognizing and mitigating biases in AI. They also touch on the need for clinicians to oversee AI in healthcare to ensure that biased information or decisions are not being made.

They also discuss the potential risks and red flags of AI and technology, including the issue of bias and the lack of control over personal data and privacy. Overall, they emphasize the need for awareness and vigilance in the face of unknown unknowns.

We were delighted to be joined by Janice Perkins to chat about the current state of UK pharmacy. 

Janice has over 30 years of leadership experience in community pharmacy.  She’s the former Superintendent Pharmacist of Well Pharmacy, responsible for patient safety & well-being, regulatory & professional standards and delivery of the NHS contractual framework and services.

A key part of the role was ensuring colleagues were clear about their developing role within community pharmacy and using every opportunity to instill pride, passion and professionalism throughout the business.

A Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Janice is Chair of the Community Pharmacy Patient Expert Advisory Group, a Visiting Professor in Community Pharmacy at Keele University and until recently was the Chair of the Community Pharmacy Patient Safety Group.

Janice is a former board member of the Company Chemists’ Association and the PSNC Committee member.

Leadership in Scottish Community pharmacy circles has been alive and kicking for some years now. The policy document 'The Right Medicine' published back in February 2002 was a seminal moment for Scottish community pharmacy and paved the way for the way pharmaceutical care has evolved north of the border. In the heady days just after Scottish devolution Chief Pharmaceutical Officier Bill Scott pushed through this plan to allow pharmacists and their teams in Scotland to allow patients in Scotland to realise the benefits of pharmaceutical care. 

"The Right Medicine: a strategy for pharmaceutical care in Scotland" was published on 4 February. It aims to help people to get the maximum benefit from their medicines. It outlines the way in which pharmacists and the Scottish Executive will work with stakeholders to improve public health; provide better access to care; deliver better quality services for people; and develop the pharmaceutical profession."

So it seems appropriate that just over two decades on years on we chat with the boss of one of the community pharmacy chains that grew out of this period of Scottish political and community pharmacy history. 

This interview is with Richard Stephenson. Richard has been Chief Operating Officer at Right Medicine Pharmacy for approximately 13 years. He is also Managing Director of the buying group Edinpharm and leads his own consultancy business, R5 Consult. 

In addition to these roles Richard also gives his time voluntarily to a number of worthy causes not least his role as Trustee at the Children's Panel. 

The team at Right Medicine Pharmacy began their journey in 2000 when business partners Jonathan Burton MBE and Noel Wicks took over the Campus Pharmacy at the University of Stirling. Since then the group has grown in size to 35 Pharmacies and over 250 team members. Right Medicine Pharmacy is now considered to be one of the most progressive and cutting-edge pharmacy service providers in Scotland.

References

Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates

Trevor Gore and I return with an introductory podcast revealing our plans for 2023.

We’ll rattle through the UK pharmacy news, catch up on stories beyond pharmacy and discuss our monthly featured interview.

It will hopefully be a lot of fun.