New PSNC Chief Executive to take up post in March

Janet Morrison OBE has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of PSNC. Janet will take up the post from 1st March 2022.

Janet’s previous roles include leading Independent Age, an influential national older people’s organisation, and more recently the Black Stork Charity which worked very closely with the NHS.

Janet has also previously worked at the BBC and was deputy Chief Executive at NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts).

At Independent Age, where she was CEO for 12 years, Janet oversaw a significant transformation of the charity and the range of services it offered, and her work as a founder and Chair of the hugely successful Campaign to End Loneliness was recognised with an OBE.

Janet has also held a number of non-executive roles as a trustee and chair including in the charitable foundation sector.

Janet is new to community pharmacy but is experienced in the fields of health and social care and has a strong track-record in influencing public policy, as well as working with commercially driven enterprises.

Janet’s appointment follows a search carried out by executive recruitment consultants Odgers Berndtson, working on behalf of PSNC’s Appointments Panel.

The PSNC Appointments Panel includes PSNC Member representatives from all parts of the community pharmacy sector, and members voted unanimously in favour of Janet’s appointment. This was approved by the full PSNC Committee ahead of its meeting this week (Thursday 3rd February).

Janet Morrison OBE said: 

“Community pharmacies offer so much to the nation and play a vital role at the heart of their communities as so many of us have found out throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This work cannot have been easy for pharmacy contractors and their teams, nor those who support them, and I hope to learn more about their experiences very soon.

I am looking forward to representing this vibrant and important sector to policy makers, as well as working to build wider recognition of, and better support for, community pharmacies. I know that PSNC has a lot of difficult work ahead of it, including some possible changes to the way that it works on behalf of pharmacies, and I am excited about taking up these challenges.”

Sue Killen, PSNC Chair, said:

“We are delighted to welcome Janet to PSNC and to this important role at the helm of the community pharmacy sector. The members of PSNC’s Appointments Panel, all of them either contractors or contractor representatives, were very cognisant of the importance of this role to the sector, and Janet was an exceptional candidate: the Panel voted unanimously to appoint her.

The interview process combined with Janet’s impressive career history showed us that she has both a clear view of the job to be done, and the skills to influence and lead effectively on behalf of community pharmacy. She joins at a challenging time for community pharmacies, and I know all in the sector will welcome her to the role and support her in it.”