The Society

News

Council meeting
Presentation of honorary membership certificate
Society appoints first woman editor of The Pharmaceutical Journal
Wessex region hosts first meeting to discuss future of Society at local level

Council meeting

Dinner guests Among the guests of the Council at dinner on February 6 were Mr Don Barrett (director of corporate affairs, Wyeth UK), Dr David Black (consultant in elderly care, Queen Mary’s hospital), Ms Yve Buckland (chair, Health Development Agency), Dr J. Ron Davidson (senior director, Pfizer Ltd) and Mrs Alison Davidson, Dr Jeff French (director of planning and partnerships, Health Development Agency), Baroness Gould of Potternewton (president, Family Planning Association), Mr Phil Gray (chief executive, Chartered Society of Physiotherapists), Mr David W. Hill (corporate affairs director, Leo Pharmaceuticals), Mr Peter Kielgast (president, International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP)), Mr Vincent Lawton (vice-president, Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry), Mr Brian Livesley (professor in the care of the elderly, University of London), Baroness Lockwood (deputy speaker, House of Lords), Mr Thomas Lönngrenn (executive director, European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products), Lord Newton of Braintree (vice-chairman, All Party Pharmacy Group and parliamentary adviser to the Society), Mr James Orr (director, Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency), Mr David Panter (chief executive, Hillingdon primary care trust), Ms Sheelagh Richards (chief executive, College of Occupational Therapists), Ms Diana Roberts (area pharmacy specialist, drug misuse), Mr Stephen Russell (chief executive, Boots Plc), Ms Alison Ryan (chief executive, Princess Royal Trust for Carers), Dr Jim Smith (chief pharmacist, Department of Health), Ms Beth Taylor (pharmacy manager, Community Health South London trust), Mr Mike Wallace (vice-president, Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry), Dr Robert West (reader in epidemiology, University of Wales College of Medicine), Mr Nicholas L. Wood (general secretary, Institute of Pharmacy Management International), and Mr Ian Wylie (chief executive, British Dental Association).

Presentation of honorary membership certificate

During the meeting of the Council on January 6, the President presented a certificate of honorary membership of the Society to Dr J. Ron Davidson, senior director of pharmaceutical research for Pfizer and a member of the Society's Science Committee.

The PRESIDENT said that the power to elect honorary members of the Society had been given to the Society by its Royal Charter of Incorporation in 1843. It could elect as honorary members persons who had rendered distinguished service to the Society or to pharmacy. The first honorary member had been elected in 1868 and, in the 132 years that had followed, the total of those honoured was still fewer than 200.

Dr Davidson had graduated with a BSc in pharmacy from Queen’s University, Belfast, and in 1972 had gained a PhD degree at the University of Nottingham. In that same year he had begun his career in the pharmaceutical industry with Pfizer, eventually becoming senior director of pharmaceutical research and development within Pfizer Central Research. During his time there he had made a major contribution to the excellence of pharmaceutical formulation and analytical development work, and he had given unrelenting support to pharmaceutical science, and particularly pharmacists working within the pharmaceutical industry in the United Kingdom.

He had been a founder member of an academic-industrial research conference known as Phorum and in the mid-1980s, with most of the founder members of Phorum, he had moved on to become a member of a more senior research conference with similar objectives, known as Interpharm. He continued to serve as a member of this organisation, which provided the vital opportunity for exchange of ideas at the academic-industrial interface and thereby exerted influence over the future direction of pharmaceutical scientific developments in the UK.

Ever alert to the breadth of experience of the pharmacy graduate and the dimension that a pharmacist could bring to pharmaceutical science in industry, he had worked tirelessly for industry to adapt to the changing preregistration experience requirements to enable pharmacy graduates who wished to follow a career in industry to complete their preregistration experience in that sector and so become full members of their chosen profession.

In the early 1990s he had further demonstrated his support for the pharmacist and pharmaceutical sciences when he had masterminded Pfizer’s commitment and financial contribution to the Government Link programme in selective drug delivery and targeting. He had argued long, hard and successfully within Pfizer that, with no new money from government, the industry had a responsibility to propose innovative solutions to bridge the funding gap and to ensure that the universities continued to produce pharmaceutical scientists of the highest quality. Because of his efforts, Pfizer had endowed fully funded academic pharmaceutical science posts within two UK schools of pharmacy.

The President then presented Dr Davidson with his certificate of honorary membership of the Society.

Dr DAVIDSON, in response, said he was deeply appreciative of the award. He felt it tremendously rewarding to work with colleagues and friends both within the pharmacy profession and outside it. He found it stimulating to build and strengthen the links, creating the basis for pharmaceutical science in the future.

There was nothing like seeing young graduates going out into the profession. It was a fantastic feeling to see them later as their careers had progressed.

He would treasure the honorary membership for ever. He hoped that the Society’s work and the profession would go from strength to strength.

Society appoints first woman editor of The Pharmaceutical Journal

The Pharmaceutical Journal has its first woman editor in its 160 year history. At its February meeting, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Council agreed the appointment of Miss Olivia Timbs to succeed Mr Douglas Simpson, who retired last August.

Miss Timbs is a natural sciences graduate from Cambridge university. Her career spans a range of health and medical editorial and management experience. Until recently the editor of General Practitioner newspaper, she is also former editor of Medeconomics and was editorial director of an international health communications agency, Medicom, publisher of Medical Monitor, Primary Care Report and Pharmacy in Practice. She has also been active in health-related charitable work.

Miss Timbs is a former medical correspondent of the Observer and editor of that newspaper’s science and technology section. A former prize-winning columnist with the Times, she also has written a weekly column for the Independent.

Miss Timbs, who took up her appointment on February 12, said: "The Pharmaceutical Journal has a proud history of informing and developing the pharmacy profession. I am looking forward to the challenge of taking the publication forward to best meet the needs of Society members in what is a fast changing health care environment.

"I have an experienced team of journalists on the staff and together I am certain we can achieve this goal."

It has also been announced that Mr Andrew Haynes, who has been acting editor for the past five months, has been designated as deputy editor. Mr Haynes, a pharmacist, has worked on the PJ since 1976.

Appointment process At its February meeting, the Council confirmed that the appointment of the new PJ editor had followed the appropriate process. The Council discussed the matter in the light of questions raised in the Council meeting and a letter signed by PJ staff expressing concerns about the process.

Wessex region hosts first meeting to discuss future of Society at local level

The first in a series of regional meetings to explore how the Society's local network can meet the challenges of the future was held in Southampton on February 7.

More than 40 pharmacists attended the Wessex regional meeting, representing all areas of the profession.

The meeting included an introductory presentation by a Council member, Mr Alan Nathan and was facilitated by another Council member, Dr Nicola Gray. Issues covered in debate included working to unite the profession, using the resources available to branches and regions, and resolving boundary issues.

Following the meeting, Dr Gray said: "I was inspired by the enthusiasm of all the members present at the meeting to talk about local opportunities and challenges.

"It seems obvious that there are many ways that we can re-engineer branches and regions so that we can give maximum support to members who want to move forward, without undermining a system that is the envy of other professions."