Former chief pharmaceutical officer for Scotland, Dr Rose Marie Parr, has received recognition in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
Dr Parr, who is from Coatbridge, received an Order of the British Empire for "services to pharmacy and pharmaceutical education".
Giving her reaction to Pharmacy Business , Dr Parr said she was “thrilled” to be included in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list this year.
“For me it is all about recognition of the pharmacy profession and the fantastic patient services that both community and hospital pharmacy teams deliver to the people of the communities we serve.
“It’s pharmaceutical care and kindness in our community.
"A huge thank you to all of the pharmacies that have fantastically delivered over the pandemic and saved lives”.
Dr Parr qualified as a pharmacist in 1982, after completing her BSc (Hons) and MSc Pharmacy degrees at the University of Strathclyde.
During her early career she worked in a variety of hospital pharmacy roles across NHS health boards, and in 1993 she was appointed as the director of the Scottish Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education.
She subsequently became director of pharmacy at the newly formed NHS Education for Scotland, and in 2007 was elected as the first chair of the then RPSGB and RPS Faculty fellow.
In her role as chief pharmaceutical officer, Dr Parr was the policy and professional lead for pharmaceutical care and NHS pharmaceutical services across Scotland.
She has been widely credited for her vision which eventually put pharmacists at the forefront of healthcare provision in the country.
She was responsible for launching the ‘Achieving Excellence in Pharmaceutical Care’ in 2017, a strategy document, to position pharmacy as an integral and enhanced part of a modern NHS in Scotland.
In what has been an exceptional year, Dr Parr has been recognised for her outstanding contribution to the profession, and was presented with their highest accolade, the RPS Charter Award, in June, by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, which was only months after she was honoured with the Pharmacy Business Editor’s Award.
