The President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (Mrs Christine Glover) has issued an open letter to the membership in response to recently expressed concerns about the Society's governance and finances. The letter is published in full below.
This is a time of unprecedented opportunity for our profession. Following the publication of the Government's modernisation plan for the National Health Service in England, I want to reassure members that the Society's Council and staff are dedicated as never before to working for the future of pharmacy. We understand the urgent need to influence the final shape of the plan for pharmacy. To that end, we are currently reviewing our workload to ensure that we can play our full part in working with the Government and others towards pharmacy's future.
I also want to assure our members that we take very seriously our fiduciary duties to the profession. To enable us to meet these responsibilities, the Society has, for some time, been engaged upon a programme to modernise and reform our own working practices and internal structures. I began my first term as President with a commitment to improve transparency and openness in the Council's procedures. The Council has made considerable progress over the past year in establishing ways of working that allow for improved scrutiny and monitoring. Issues that have been successfully dealt with include the mechanism for electing the President and the selection of members and chairmen of committees, the roles and responsibilities of Council members and staff, a code of conduct for the Council and the establishment of an audit committee. Other recommendations that affect the Society's constitution have been referred to the Health Act working party.
Members of the Council need access to information relevant to the performance of their duties. It has not been Council's policy to require detailed information about the salaries of individual members of staff. Current Council policy is that only salary bands are published. The Council has not at this time decided to change its policy on this issue but if it did, any legal and contractual issues would need to be considered and dealt with.
The Council is aware that staff salary increases are subject to the same criteria set by the Hay scheme, incorporating a cost of living rise and the possibility of a progression or merit award. This year all grades of staff - including directors - received the same percentage cost of living award, which was 3 per cent.
Like any other responsible public body, the Society has to ensure that it can meet its obligations and priorities within its means. Our half-year position showed the revenue of the Society below budgeted expectations and corrective action has been taken by the Council to ensure compliance with the 2000 budget.
In August, the Council took a decision to continue to support the resale price maintenance campaign, which will require a substantial sum from financial reserves. As a direct result of that decision, the Council agreed that the financial strategy for 2001 should be to budget for a surplus that would enable us to protect the value of the working capital in the balance sheet together with partial replenishment of the reserves. This is a prudent move but one that cannot be delivered without hard decision-making and revision of objectives.
All directorates at the Society, together with committee chairmen, are now working to finalise budgets that deliver the Council's financial strategy for 2001 while allowing the Society to play its part in NHS modernisation plans. Like many other organisations, we face difficult decisions as policy initiatives compete for finite resources. But we are determined to harness our resources to best effect so that we can be effective and influential in our work. We cannot afford to let ourselves be distracted at this time. I hope that our members will continue to support our efforts to create a sustainable future for pharmacy that meets the needs of patients and the aspirations of the profession.
CHRISTINE GLOVER
August 23, 2000