The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7174 p727-729
17 November 2001

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Society News summary

Society planning for new era of professional regulation

As the NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill is published, the Royal Pharmaceutical is setting out how it intends to spend the income raised from the proposed increase in membership retention fees.

Recently, the Society asked the Privy Council for permission to increase the individual member retention fee by 31 per cent to fund a programme of work to modernise its powers and functions as a health professional regulator. It says that this required strengthening current activity and establishing new activity in relation to professional quality and accountability, and integrating them into a regulatory framework that ensures a competent and accountable profession.

If approved, the money raised from the fee increase will be used to support a number of activities.

Fitness to practise

Support quality in pharmacy and the NHS The Society, like many of the Royal Colleges and professional bodies, has contributed significantly to the development of clinical governance in the NHS. The Department of Health has funded the initial work in England and Wales: now the Society must fund the ongoing work as well as new activities to support strategic developments in Scotland.

Implement continuing professional development (CPD) Following a successful pilot project during 1999–2000, work is now in hand to develop further, scale-up and evaluate a system of CPD in pharmacy. The next phase of the work, to implement the system among 5,000 pharmacists, will begin in 2002.

Towards revalidation A new competence audit committee will be established. This work will support future developments in revalidation and underpin efforts to ensure continuing professional competence.

Conduct

Establish a health committee The Society will establish a new committee to consider cases of pharmacists whose fitness to practise may be impaired through ill health.

Modernise the disciplinary machinery Changes to the disciplinary processes to be implemented include restructuring the investigating committee to include lay membership, establishing a new committee to ensure transparency in the appointment of members to the Statutory Committee; and supporting the Statutory Committee in developing and improving its effectiveness as a modern disciplinary committee.

Infrastructure, devolution and governance

Modernise the regulatory framework As well as seeking new powers to modernise its conduct and disciplinary machinery, the Society will also be looking to undertake a far reaching programme of regulatory reform to modernise its structures and working practices to meet modern principles of professional self-regulation.

The Society is setting up a steering group to take forward work to develop proposals for reform, to oversee relevant consultations and to plan implementation of those changes.

Develop corporate governance The Society has already undertaken a body of work on corporate governance. This now needs to be developed to ensure that ways of working are transparent, accountable and reflect devolution, and that regulatory processes are effective and appropriate. Initial work undertaken in 2000–01 will be extended to non-financial issues. This will encompass a programme of risk identification and management.

The principles within the Code of Conduct for the Society's Council (agreed in 2001) will be developed to cover its committees. Additional training for the Council, Committee members and staff, together with external guidance, will be required to ensure effective implementation from 2002.

R&D programme to support modernisation of regulatory framework As part of a five-year research strategy, the Society is, like other regulatory bodies, looking to commission a programme of research to inform its core functions.

Improve IT and communications infrastructure In order to plan future developments in regulation and practice, the Society requires accurate, reliable and detailed information about its membership. The Society plans to update and enhance its membership database system to support future developments such as revalidation. There are also plans to link with other health regulators to share information and to increase transparency and consistency. Developments in the Society's websites are planned to improve communication with members, other professions and the public.

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