The Pharmacists' Defence Association has announced the appointment of Jay Badenhorst as its director of pharmacy – a first-of-its-kind role.

The move comes as the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) today confirmed Mr Badenhorst had stepped down as its vice chair and board member at a board meeting on Tuesday.

He has been replaced at the NPA by Olivier Picard, owner of Newdays Pharmacies.

The director position is a new role at the PDA, which said it had been created in response to the union's ‘growing membership’ and ‘the increasing need to influence the evolving healthcare landscape, at a time of very significant change and challenge for pharmacists at the frontline’.

Mr Badenhorst said that his decision to take on the role was ‘a commitment to being at the forefront of positive change within the pharmacy profession’.

He added: ‘The PDA represents pharmacists in all areas of practice across the UK and has the majority of pharmacists in its membership.

‘I am delighted to be joining an organisation that has so much vision, ambition and drive at a time when pharmacists have so many opportunities to develop their roles for the benefit of patients.’

Mark Koziol, PDA chair, described Mr Badenhorst as a ‘senior level, proven and award-winning pharmacy leader’.

‘He is well known and familiar with the workings of the NHS, government and the pharmacy political landscape,’ he said.

‘His leadership expertise will deliver additional perspectives and greater capacity to the existing PDA leadership team, helping to create even more innovative strategies for the benefit of members.

‘This appointment shows that we are totally committed to making a beneficial and dynamic difference to the lives of pharmacists. We welcome Jay to our team.’

Mr Badenhorst has worked as a pharmacist for over 25 years and was vice chair of the NPA until the sale of Whitworth Chemists, a 34-strong pharmacy group of which he was managing director and superintendent, made him ineligible for the board.

He formally stepped down at an NPA board meeting on 12 March, when his vice chair role was taken over by Mr Picard following a vote by the NPA board.

And following a special election, Mr Badenhorst's role on the NPA board representing members with more than five pharmacies in the North of England has been filled by Aisling O’Brien, director of O’Brien’s Chemists Ltd, a group of nine pharmacies across the Lancashire/Merseyside coast.

She brings 25 years experience as a pharmacist and 15 years experience serving on her local pharmaceutical committee Community Pharmacy Lancashire, and is the third woman currently on the NPA board.

NPA chair Nick Kaye welcomed Ms O’Brien to the role and said: ‘She brings with her bags of relevant experience and a passion for community pharmacy. I know she will be an effective advocate for the NPA and the sector at large.’

He added that the NPA was ‘sad’ Mr Badenhorst was leaving the board and that he had contributed ‘several years of distinguished service, including a period as vice chair during which he provided skilled and thoughtful leadership and been a great help to me personally in my role as chair’.