The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has awarded a GP and NHS England (NHSE) director an Honorary Fellowship of the Society, it announced today (April 29). 

RPS chief executive Paul Bennett congratulated Professor Tony Avery OBE on the award and said he “consistently championed the role of pharmacists as leaders in the field of research and policy development to support the safer use of medicines”. 

“Professor Avery is well known for his research in primary care with a focus on patient safety, prescribing errors, medication errors, medicines optimisation and electronic prescribing systems,” he added. 

Read more: RPS to become Royal College of Pharmacy after 31% voter turnout 

Avery holds various roles including as a practicing GP, as NHSE national clinical director for prescribing, as a professor of primary health care at the University of Nottingham, and holding two positions at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) as a senior investigator and a research co-lead at the NIHR’s Greater Manchester patient safety research collaboration. 

His career has focused on safe and appropriate use of medicines and has worked with healthcare professionals and patients to in research and policy development in prescribing and patient safety. 

Avery has also led major studies on prescribing safety issues in the NHS and has developed effective methods to address hazardous prescribing, including the pharmacist-led, IT-based intervention known as PINCER (Pharmacist-led Information technology iNtervention for the reduction of Clinically important ERrors in medicines management). 

“A great honour” 

He said he was “delighted” to receive the honour and joins 19 other recipients including Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh who was the first recipient in 1955, and Princess Anne in 2001. 

“This is a great honour to me,” Avery said. “As a GP I witness the excellent work of pharmacy teams on a daily basis in both community pharmacy and general practice. As a researcher, my studies have demonstrated the positive impact pharmacists can make in medicines optimisation, particularly for improving medication safety.  

“In my national clinical director for prescribing role I work with fantastic pharmacy colleagues across the profession and I am in awe of their dedication and commitment to improving patient care,” he added. 

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The Honorary Fellowship is awarded to those who have “attained a distinction in a particular aspect or aspects of pharmacy”, have made “a distinctive contribution to pharmacy or the RPS”, or have “distinguished themselves in any branches of knowledge referred to in the objects of the RPS or achieved eminence in public life”. 

 It is only available to those who are not eligible to be members of the RPS. 

Bennett also shared how Avery had “collaborated closely with RPS over several years” including on the development of the RPS/RCGP repeat prescribing toolkit. 

"This award reflects the high esteem in which Professor Avery and his work is held by the Society,” he added. 

Read more: RPS: Legal row erupts over two-thirds vote to change charter 

Last month, the RPS announced it will become the Royal College of Pharmacy after a ballot to change its royal charter. 

And it announced its director for England James Davies left his role in December.