The 159th annual general meeting of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society took place at the Society's headquarters in London on May 10
Other topics covered include: Balance sheet strong despite 1999 deficit; AGM adopts revisions to Code of Ethics; Presentation of fellowship certificates; and AGM rejects "witch-hunt" motion on flat purchase
The President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (Mrs Christine Glover) has asked the Society's membership to support the Council as it works towards modernising its own processes and procedures. In her address to the annual general meeting, the President said that the development of a framework for corporate governance involved all the membership and members' opinions would be canvassed as the work progressed.
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The President: members' opinions will be canvassed |
The President said that the progress made on corporate governance in the Council and the Council's ways of working was an important aspect of her address, as she had indicated at the Council meeting in April (PJ, April 15, p583). The Council was aware of the concern of the membership on a number of issues and to address that concern three working groups had been set up in August last year to consider transparency of working, the methods for election of officers, and the appointment of chairmen and members of committees. Many of the recommendations of the working groups would be implemented during 2000.
In addition, the Council had identified topics for four seminars to be led by Professor Bob Garrett, an expert in corporate governance. These seminars would focus on the essential organisational elements underpinning effective governance.
A steering group established under the chairmanship of the Vice-President was working on the framework of corporate governance. This comprised: code of conduct; monitoring arrangements, including the establishment of an audit committee; and the roles and accountabilities of Officers, committee chairmen and Council members and of senior staff. The framework would draw on similar structures developed for the NHS or being developed by other professional bodies.
At its April meeting, the Council had agreed a new code of conduct and a statement of undertaking for its members. Initially it would be voluntary and would apply to the Council established following the current election. There would also be a register of interests of Council members. The intention was to allow a little time for the code to bed in and it would then be incorporated into the Byelaws.
The steering group had also considered proposals for an Audit Committee, which had been discussed at the Council's meeting earlier that day, and the Council would be consulting the Society's honorary auditors as part of the development process.
The President said: "The Council is as committed to modernising its own processes and procedures as it is to working for the future of the profession for the 21st century.
"We have made much progress but we recognise there is much still to do. The Council and the senior staff will advance views and we will canvass opinions of members as this work progresses.
"It does, however, involve us all and most importantly we seek your support not only for this report but also for our future plans."
Earlier, opening her address, the President had said that the annual report for 1999 marked a turning point in the Society's affairs. The report itself was different and reflected the way in which both the organisation and its external environment were changing. The changes should not be underestimated and more were to come.
The political environment during 1999 had been one of feverish activity, with the emphasis for the National Health Service on increasing both access and quality of services. The Society had played an active role in both of those important policy initiatives. This year had emphasised that the changes in the Society's working within Lambeth were not only a good thing but were absolutely essential.
The President thanked the staff for their hard work during the year and for their commitment and support. It had been an eventful year in responding to both political and professional demands, and she was well aware of the pressures that the pace of change had put on the staff, as well as on the Society's members.
Throughout the year, said the President, the Council had been putting in place a number of measures, not only to improve the governance of the Council, but also to improve the building at Lambeth and the profession. This had started in 1999 with the Society taking the lead in working with all the pharmacy bodies to develop a common approach for clinical governance in pharmacy. In September, the Society had launched a paper, "Achieving excellence in pharmacy through clinical governance", setting out a framework for clinical governance in pharmacy in England and Wales. The paper set out the Society's policy on clinical governance and made a series of recommendations to pharmacists, health authorities, the Department of Health and the National Assembly for Wales. A separate document had reflected the national frameworks that applied in Scotland. The next step was for the Society to develop practical tools to help pharmacists fulfil clinical governance in both community and hospital settings.
Clinical governance applied the principle of continuous quality improvement to clinical settings. Pharmacists, through their training and knowledge of quality systems, were well placed to take the lead. Indeed, this was one area where the combined expertise of pharmacists in practice, in academia and in industry could really demonstrate the contribution that could be made.
But, said the President, the Society could not rest on its laurels. Its approach to quality had to be a dynamic process. To improve quality one needed evidence. In July, 1999, the Getting Research into Pharmacy Practice (GRIPP) working group had published its report, "Medicines, pharmacy and the NHS: getting it right for patients and prescribers". The report set out what needed to happen to ensure that all pharmacists had access to the results of high quality, up-to-date research and were able to implement the findings in their everyday practice.
The recommendations set out the framework for the profession to implement core aspects of the Government's agenda on quality and consistency in practice and service delivery. The work of this report was also about producing the evidence for policy makers and politicians to make better decisions and to include pharmacy in the health agenda.
An important aspect of the report was the contribution of the membership drawn from across the range of health care professions. The report reflected the fact that pharmacy's future lay in working in partnership with others.
Governance was also about ensuring pharmacists were personally delivering quality. Continuing professional development was fundamental to the overall governance of the profession.
During 1999, the education division had recruited 500 pharmacists, including 300 community and 150 hospital pharmacists from south west London, west and central Wales, Northumberland and parts of Newcastle, and Edinburgh and Lothians, plus 50 pharmacists in other areas of practice throughout Britain, to take part in a trial of a structured system for continuing professional development, which provided pharmacists with material and guidance to identify and address their development needs, and a CPD certificate. The trial would be completed this summer. It was hoped that the trial results would help in the development of a system of CPD for the whole profession.
When NHS Direct had been introduced, the profession had felt that an opportunity for partnership had been missed. So, during 1999, the Society had participated in several initiatives relating to pharmacy's contribution to NHS Direct. These had included the production of core principles for pharmacy support to the service and contribution to a pack to help NHS Direct sites put in place pharmacy support from day one. The Society had also participated in the steering group for the Essex pilot project, looking specifically at the involvement of community pharmacy with NHS Direct and the development of the "fourth disposition", which related to the referral of NHS Direct callers to community pharmacy. It had been launched this year, and the Society hoped that it would blaze a trail for future inclusion.
In December, 1999, pharmacy's contribution to the success of NHS Direct had been reinforced with the launch by the Prime Minister (Mr Tony Blair) of the NHS Direct health care guide and the development of NHS Direct on-line.
Partnership with others depended on good communication and the development of mutual trust and recognition by key opinion formers and stakeholders, including both government and patients. The Society's public affairs strategy had been introduced to promote greater awareness of the Society's policy aims among key opinion formers. Parliament had been a particular target and new contacts had been made with MPs of all parties as well as with front bench teams.
All the pharmaceutical bodies had worked together to get an All-Party Parliamentary Group established. The group now met to discuss a variety of topics, and interested MPs and Lords attended. A report was then sent to the Minister. This provided a useful method of reinforcing the value of pharmacy's contribution to the health agenda.
Clear evidence of the pharmacy message getting through to the Government had been provided by the NHS "winter pressures" campaign, which had encouraged the public to make the right choice of health care during the winter months. The value of visiting a pharmacy for advice on symptoms and self-medication had been the key message in a high profile national campaign. The campaign itself had been launched by Ms Gisela Stuart, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health, from the Society's headquarters in Lambeth.
Another example of joint working during 1999 had come in the shape of the work done with the Doctor Patient Partnership. A public campaign, "Head for your pharmacy", had encouraged the public to use the pharmacist, rather than the GP, as their first stop for advice on minor ailments.
The year had seen a new approach in policy development with input into often controversial areas. The proposed supply of emergency contraception by pharmacists was one issue that had made national news headlines during 1999. In an effort to help tackle Britain's rising numbers of unwanted pregnancies, the Society had proposed, as part of its policy on contraception and sexual health, that emergency hormonal contraception be made available through community pharmacies. It was a policy that had gained widespread support from patients groups, family planning campaigners and other health professionals.
The medicinal use of cannabinoids was another topical issue on which the Society has been at the forefront during 1999. As a result of a symposium arranged jointly between the Pharmaceutical Sciences Group and the Multiple Sclerosis Society, a working party had been set up, chaired by Sir William Asscher, to establish clinical trials to prove cannabis and the cannabinoids have therapeutic benefit. The protocols had been launched in January, 1999, and in November, 1999, the Medical Research Council had agreed to fund the MS trial for £950,000.
The Society had also given evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology on the medicinal uses of cannabinoids. Professor Tony Moffat (the Society's chief scientist) had been widely interviewed across the media on the subject of the Society's proposed clinical trials and had given the public a clear understanding of the issues and reinforcing the science behind all medicines.
Establishing a new approach for regulating herbal medicines to demonstrate safety and quality was one of the key recommendations of a report on complementary and alternative medicine submitted by the Society, in November, 1999, to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. The Society had called for the establishment of a new category of licensed herbal remedies to be prepared in accordance with current good manufacturing practice, which met standards for safety and quality, and which were regulated by the Medicines Control Agency.
In 1999 the Society had produced diabetes guidelines, the first in a series for community pharmacists in the management of long-term conditions to aid the integration of pharmacists into the extended diabetes team. They had been produced by a multidisciplinary task force formed by the Society in collaboration with the British Diabetic Association. Their success would depend on their implementation in practice. They illustrated the Society's approach to enhancing practice in key strategic areas and to working in partnership with others.
The President went on to say that the Society had not been slow in adopting new technology, and 1999 had seen the launch of PJ Online and the launch by the Pharmaceutical Press of two intranet versions of the British National Formulary.
As the year had progressed, the role and impact of the internet as a source of both information and potential professional and business opportunities had become the focus of many questions from members. The implications raised by the expansion of internet services and the rapid growth of electronic commerce had been addressed by the Society towards the end of 1999 through the publication of interim standards for internet pharmacy.
The full impact had yet to be realised and recognised, not only by pharmacists but by everyone. The Society was seeking to work through the full implications. E-commerce would grow, and the profession would have to develop and cope with it. However, public safety and the potential for harm had to be paramount in pharmacy's actions.
The Society had been working on a series of closed internet discussion groups for individual pharmacy development groups, linked to a nation-wide discussion group for PDGs to liaise with each other. This project was now near completion.
The Society was committed to preserving ready public access to pharmacy services and would keep the impact of developments under review and raise with the Government any problems that might emerge.
Strategic discussions within the NHS concerning electronic transfer of prescription information were continuing in England and Wales and in Scotland. Scotland expected to be fully computerised within the next two years.
Many of these issues were of concern to pharmacy, not only in Britain but elsewhere in Europe. Activities in Europe were increasingly important. The Society had direct representation on the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union for community pharmacy and the European group for industrial pharmacy, and worked closely with the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists, which provided the UK delegation to the European Association for Hospital Pharmacy. The guild had provided a summary of activities for inclusion in the annual report.
The Society had to continue to learn new ways, as had been highlighted by the impact of devolution, which had given rise to new opportunities in Scotland and in Wales. In Scotland an effective programme of contact with members of the Scottish Parliament had been implemented using the document "No appointment necessary: a Scottish prescription for health" produced by the Scottish Executive. Similarly, the Welsh Executive had had an effective input into Welsh health strategies. There were clearly further opportunities which the Society was working through.
When the President opened the report for questions and comments, Mr BILL BROOKES (South Cheshire) said that over the years there had been increasing concern about the branch representatives' meeting. The matter had been discussed on many occasions, most recently at the December, 1999, meeting of the Council when a report had been presented that put forward a number of recommendations.
One matter of concern was the decreasing number of branches that send representatives to the BRM. One problem was that many members did not attend the meeting because the financial arrangements made it impossible for them. Many of those who attended who were in community pharmacy were out of pocket.
Another matter of concern was an increasing perception that the Council took less notice of the meeting than it should do. One aspect that had been incorporated in the December report, but seemed to have got lost, was that the Society was to set up a focus group of members who would look at the future of the BRM advise the Council as to the best way forward. To the best of his knowledge, nothing had happened in respect of that latter point. Mr Brookes asked for an assurance that something would be done to move the focus group forward.
The PRESIDENT said that Mr Brookes would be pleased to know there would be 150 people attending the BRM on the following day, which was an increase on the previous two years. The Council would look at the cost to members of attending the meeting as part of a current review of the whole issue of expenses.
The SECRETARY AND REGISTRAR said that the focus group would certainly be organised, probably in the summer.
Mr ANTHONY COX (Birmingham) asked the President to explain the initial absence of a pharmacist from the Government's key task force modernising the National Health Service, given the Society's increased links to the Department of Health and Government.
The PRESIDENT said that when the Society had discussed the absence of a pharmacist, the Government's key policy advisers had realised that they had gaffed pretty seriously. Professor Alison Blenkinsopp had now been appointed to one of the groups. Those responsible were aware that they had made a mistake in not having more pharmacists, or so she had been told when she had met the relevant person in Westminster.
Answering a question from Lady CONSTANCE PERRIS (Birmingham), the PRESIDENT said that, when the code of conduct for Council members was formalised and published, it was the Council's intention also to publish the names of those Council members who had signed up and those who had not.
In reply to a question from Dr ANDREW HERSOM (Hull), the PRESIDENT said that the code of conduct would initially be voluntary because of the need to be sure that the Council had got it right. She would be disappointed if everyone did not sign it, but it could not be enforced until it was incorporated into the Byelaws. Once it had been tweaked correctly, it would be submitted to go into the Byelaws.
Mr RAJ PATEL (Manchester) asked when the Society would issue a policy on emergency hormonal contraception.
The PRESIDENT replied that the Society already had a policy, which was that the EHC should be available through community pharmacies. The Council had that day reaffirmed its policy (see p762) and had said that it was in the public interest to improve access to EHC through community pharmacies. It had also agreed that reclassification to pharmacy medicine status was supportive of this proposal and that, recognising that cost would be a barrier to access for some women, the Council wanted to see measures in place to ensure that EHC was available free from community pharmacies to women who could not afford it. She hoped that that met the anxieties that had been expressed in other places.
There being no other questions, the President then moved the adoption of the annual report, which was agreed.
Later, in closing the meeting, the President thanked all the Society's staff for their accomplishments in the past 12 months. It had been an eventful year in responding to both political and professional demands, and she was well aware of the pressures that the pace of change put on the Society's members and staff.
The VICE-PRESIDENT (Mr Marshall Davies) then proposed a vote of thanks to the President for the way in which she had conducted the meeting.
With the President on the platform during the meeting were the Vice-President (Mr Marshall Davies), the Treasurer (Dr Gordon Appelbe), the chairman of the Scottish Executive (Mr Graeme Millar), the chairman of the Welsh Executive (Mr Colin Ranshaw), the Secretary and Registrar (Miss Ann Lewis) and the Society's Director of Resources (Mr Denis Argent).
