I joined Staffordshire Pharmaceutical Committee in 1978 as an independent contractor member. I became vice chairman in 1995 and when the Committee divided into North and South Staffordshire LPCs in 1996 I was appointed Secretary of the South Staffordshire LPC.

When I sold my pharmacy in Stone in 1998 I ceased to be a contractor member of the Committee but was retained as professional secretary – a role that has expanded to include North Staffordshire and Shropshire LPCs.

The Secretary has overall operational responsibility for the effective working of the LPC and the role involves undertaking administration of the LPC and attending to all statutory obligations. Since student days one of my main areas of interest has been the legal aspect of pharmacy practice and it is this interest which has supported my role as LPC Secretary.

A second area of interest has been practice research which I started in 1975 at Aston University with research into the advisory role of community pharmacists and continued until recently with research into a possible role for pharmacist-led medication review for knee pain in older adults at the Department of Primary Care Sciences, Keele University.

Interests outside pharmacy are mainly centred around my role as a school governor at the secondary school I attended in the 1950s and, of course, my grandchildren.