Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Company Chemists’ Association Conference 2026, which brought together colleagues from across community pharmacy, healthcare, policy and industry to discuss the future of patient care.
The conference included keynote remarks from Dr Penny Dash, Chair of NHS England, and Joanne Cooper, General Manager, Great Britain & Ireland at Haleon, alongside discussions on some of the biggest opportunities and challenges facing community pharmacy and the wider NHS.
Independent prescribing and neighbourhood health
Delegates heard from expert speakers on the role of independent prescribing in expanding access to care. The panel featured:
- Bruce Warner, Honorary Professor of Pharmacy Policy and Practice, University of Nottingham
- Claire Nevinson, Superintendent Pharmacist, Boots
- Professor Ellen Schafheutle, Chair in Pharmacy Policy and Practice, University of Manchester, who submitted her key points after being affected by travel disruption, and
- Raj Nutan, VP Healthcare Strategy & Service, Cencora Alliance Healthcare
A second panel focused on neighbourhood health and explored how community pharmacy can help deliver more care closer to home. Speakers included:
- Kevin Heath, Chief Executive Officer, Pharmacy2U,
- Sukhy Somal, ICS Head of Community Pharmacy Clinical Services, NHS Black Country ICB
- Amy Peters, Head of Government Affairs, AbbVie UK, and
- Michael Bell, Chair, NHS West and North London ICB
Bringing the discussion together
The conference was expertly chaired by Dame Barbara Hakin, with Malcolm Harrison bringing together the key themes and reflections from across the day.
The 2026 Conference reiterated the value of community pharmacy in tackling many of the challenges facing the NHS, as well as the opportunities presented by independent prescribing and neighbourhood health.
Thank you to our sponsors
We are grateful to our sponsors for their support:
Gold Sponsor: Haleon
Silver Sponsors: AbbVie UK and Cencora Healthcare Alliance
Bronze Sponsors: BHR BIOSYNEX, Brabners, Eclosix and Real World Analytics
We would also like to thank our media sponsor, Communications International Group (CIG).
AbbVie are a silver sponsor for the CCA Conference and provided funding and a participant on a panel session. All topics and other panellists were selected by the CCA.