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Pharmacy contractor Mike Hewitson has said he is running for election to the National Pharmacy Association board nearly seven years after resigning from it over concerns it was unable to deal with some of the biggest issues impacting the independent sector.

Hewitson (pictured) threw his hat into the ring for the remaining place on the board, which is open to NPA members who own one to five pharmacies in England, having left in April 2018 in protest at the appointment of Nitin Sodha as NPA chair, who was then a director of the wholesaler Lexon. 

Sodha, who is a director at Knights Pharmacy chain, stepped down as NPA chair in June 2019 while the Competition and Markets Authority investigated allegations, later proven unfounded, that Lexon, Medreich, Alliance Pharma and Focus colluded to increase the price of anti-nausea drug prochlorperazine.

Sodha, who left the NPA board in July 2019, resigned as a director of Lexon in April 2023.

Shortly after leaving the NPA board, Hewitson, who runs Beaminster Pharmacy in Dorset, claimed the organisation had “surrendered moral leadership on the critical issues of price gouging by wholesalers, stock shortages and the precipitous decline of service levels by vertically integrated wholesalers.”

The Healthcare Distribution Association, which represents pharmaceutical wholesalers, has always denied any wrongdoing by its members.

A strong independent sector needs a strong NPA

Announcing his candidacy on LinkedIn, Hewitson said “a strong independent sector needs a strong NPA”.

“Throughout my career I've always tried to add value to the profession of pharmacy wherever I can,” he said.

“With the challenges currently facing the sector, I believe I can make a positive difference to the National Pharmacy Association board as they continue to modernise the organisation and fight for their members.”

Hewitson, who is chair of Community Pharmacy Dorset and a member of Somerset Council, said he “helped to reform” the NPA “and improve its campaigning” during his eight years on the board.

“I led groundbreaking policy work which stopped premature legislation and fought NPA members’ corner multiple times with ministers and civil servants right the way up to Downing Street,” he said.

I understand our broken funding system as well as anyone

Hewitson also insisted he and his team “revitalised” Community Pharmacy Dorset, helping it renegotiate local public health services and support contractors to deliver nationally commissioned services.

“I understand our broken funding system as well as anyone in the sector, and I know what needs to change, and I'm not afraid to stand up to powerful interests to do what's right.,” he said.

“If I'm elected to the Board, I will fight to improve the system, increase transparency and support NPA members to survive and thrive in the most difficult of circumstances.”

Simon Harris, who runs Cadbury Heath Pharmacy & Health Clinic in Bristol and was named Independent Pharmacist of the Year at last year’s Independent Pharmacy Awards, is also running for election, as is Baba Akomolafe, a director of Christchurch Health Centre in Essex.

The other two candidates standing for election are James Famakin, the superintendent pharmacist at Faringdon Pharmacy in Oxfordshire, and Matt Harvey, who runs Green Lane Pharmacy in Liverpool.

The ballot will open later this month and the new board will take over in April.