From Mr C. Friedland, MRPharmS
SIR,-As a somewhat casual observer of pharmaceutical politics I was rather alarmed to read in your columns of the apparent reincarnation within our Council of a version of the sinister English institution known in its time as the Star Chamber.
Mr Khan, of the Young Pharmacists' Group, referring to the Council, believes (PJ, September 2, p330) that "we have an autocratic regime run by an ‘elite' group".
Mr Dajani, a member of the Council, writes (PJ, August 26, p294) that "the Council is represented by and for a clique of senior Council members and some senior staff".
Among the allegations cited against this elite clique are failures of corporate governance in the repression of information relating to senior staff pay increases, a hidden agenda to emasculate the editorial independence of the PJ and responsibility for the opacity of the dealings resulting in the purchase of a flat.
In the face of the power exerted by this covert group, Mr Dajani believes that Council members have been "changed simply into acting as figureheads". Further, in addressing these issues and calling for the Society's house to be put in order he has in his estimation "put his neck on the line". It is astounding that a member of the Council should appear to feel jeopardised by having confirmed in print what many members have suspected and alluded to in your columns. This state of affairs extant within the highest body of an honourable profession must be anathema to anyone with any respect for the democratic process and cannot be allowed to continue unchecked.
Mr Dajani and any of his collegues on the Council who hold similar views deserve the fullest support from the membership in calling for the restoration of the Council to a body that is totally representative of its membership and is operating both transparently and openly.
Colin Friedland
Tewin Wood, Hertfordshire