Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland to retire in July

It has been announced that the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland Rose Marie Parr will retire in July this year.

Rose Marie gained her registration as a pharmacist in 1982 and began working as a hospital pharmacist with Lanarkshire Health Board.

In 1993, she became Director of pharmacy at the Scottish Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education which would later become the Scottish Centre for Post Qualification.

Rose Marie then became the Director of Pharmacy of NHS Education for Scotland in 2002.

In 2004, she was appointed as an honorary reader at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. She is a visiting Professor at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.

In April 2015, she was appointed Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland. In this role she has driven pharmacy in Scotland forward and championed the concept of pharmaceutical care.

Her time in the role has been marked by the success of the “Achieving Excellence in Pharmaceutical Care” which has arguably maintained Scotland as a global leader in pharmacy.

Commenting on the announcement Jeanne Freeman paid tribute to Rose Marie by saying:

“Rose Marie Parr has made a significant and valuable contribution as Chief Pharmaceutical Officer over the past 5 years.

“In her time she has provided consistent leadership and has been an exemplary CPO. I wish her the very best for her retirement when it comes at the end of July.”