The Privy Council has appointed five new members to join our governing Council. Professor Dianne Ford, Gareth Powell and Adeyemi (Ade) Williams will begin their terms on 1 April 2024, and Tim Jaggard and Dr Raliat Onatade on 1 April 2025.
The new Council members will replace Jo Kember, Mark Hammond and Arun Midha in 2024 and Elizabeth Mailey and Jayne Salt in 2025.
The process to recruit new Council members is carefully scrutinised by the Professional Standards Authority. This includes the PSA assessing if the GPhC has followed the principles of a good appointments process, namely: merit, fairness, transparency and openness and inspiring confidence.
Gisela Abbam, Chair of the GPhC, said:
“It’s vital that our Council members are drawn from the widest possible talent pools, bringing with them different life experiences, ideas, and perspectives, to inform our discussions and decisions.
"This year, we had a very large volume of applications from high calibre people applying to serve on our Council, and I am delighted that these five new members will be joining us over the next two years. We also recruited one new Council member who lives and works in Wales within this cohort, to maintain the important requirements for our Council to include members from across the three countries we regulate.
"There are significant developments impacting on pharmacy and pharmacy regulation and we have an ambitious programme of work ahead. I’m sure that our new members will help shape our strategic plans for the future and help patients and wider society to benefit from safe, effective and inclusive pharmacy care.
"I’d also like to thank our outgoing Council members for their hard work and dedication throughout their terms of office, and I wish them all the best for the future.”
Biographies of the new members
Members taking office in 2024:
Professor Dianne Ford
Dianne is the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at Northumbria University, which comprises the departments of Applied Sciences, Nursing, Midwifery and Health, Psychology, Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation, and Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing. Dianne is a Co-opted Governor at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and a Fellow of the Physiological Society. Dianne has also served on research and advisory panels for the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and collaborates with researchers in the UK and worldwide.
Gareth Powell
Gareth lives and works in Wales and has held roles in the private, public and voluntary sectors, including as Chief Operating Officer of BBC Cymru Wales from 2008 until 2023. He is a Chartered Accountant and currently serves as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Port of Milford Haven, the UK’s largest energy port, and is also a Non-Executive Director of Green Ibex Ltd, a company that supports businesses in achieving their carbon reduction goals. He has previously held trustee roles in organisations such as the National Dance Company of Wales and the Welsh Rugby Charitable Trust and was a member of CBI Wales Council.
Adeyemi (Ade) Williams MBE
Ade is Superintendent Pharmacist and Director of the M J Williams Pharmacy, lead Pharmacist at the Bedminster Pharmacy, Bristol and an independent prescriber. Ade holds a number of Non-Executive and Trustee roles in healthcare, community and charitable organisations, including the Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, the Self Care Forum Charity, the Bristol Cathedral Council and lately North Bristol NHS Trust. Ade is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, the Royal Society for Public Health and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and is passionate about engaging and empowering patients.
Members taking office in 2025:
Tim Jaggard
Tim is Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, having been first appointed to the Board in 2015 and previously holding the post of Deputy Finance Director. Tim has significant experience in strategic and financial planning, audit, risk management and organisational change. He has also been a non-executive director on the Board of a public-private pathology partnership, providing pathology services to NHS and private hospitals, and has previously held the finance lead role for North Central London integrated care system.
Dr Raliat Onatade
Raliat is Chief Pharmacist and Director of Medicines and Pharmacy for North-East London Integrated Care System, Group Chief Pharmacist at Barts Health NHS Trust and Chief Pharmacist for North Thames Genomic Medicine Service Alliance. Raliat has spent most of her career leading advances in UK clinical pharmacy practice and her academic interests are the development and evaluation of new clinical pharmacy practice models, pharmaceutical care, medication safety and quality improvement. She is a fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.