Actions not words

Hello, my name is Shamma. I am the equality, diversity and inclusion executive for the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK). It has been an immense pleasure to have acquired this role since July 2021. My future endeavours for the role include showcasing the vast diversity of roles and race amongst our profession. I would like all our members to feel equal, valued and respected regardless of their ethnic background, job role and responsibilities. 

The agenda

The equality, diversity and inclusion agenda has been very busy. As a profession, we are making impactful and progressive steps to ensuring we are inclusive in our practice. You may recall the health inequalities webinar in the spring highlighting the wonderful work our community pharmacy colleagues have been doing. This was an initiative of the Inclusive Pharmacy Practice (IPP) programme and though the focus is not shifted and health inequalities are still a core focus, the IPP partners have now chosen diversity in leadership as a theme this autumn. Working with the IPP partners, APTUK would like to explore initiatives to increase diversity in senior leadership representation across our profession. Here at APTUK, we are committed to celebrating diversity, ensuring equality for all and continuing to be inclusive. 

Black History Month

In celebration of Black History Month, APTUK organised a virtual webinar on 11 October. Our guest speaker, honorary Dr. Stuart Lawrence, made the event incredibly exciting and insightful. We would like to thank all our members who joined in this celebratory event and strengthened our proactive ally-ship in line with the theme ‘Time for change: Actions not words’. 

If you would like to contact me regarding any EDI related matters, please don’t hesitate to email me on edi@aptuk.org.