The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7205 p35
6 July 2002

Society summary

Past presidents express concern over Society's direction

Eleven past presidents of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society have jointly expressed concern at the direction in which the Society's modernisation programme appears to be taking it.

In a letter to The Journal this week (see p15), they suggest that "the Council's proposals" [ie, the options set out in the discussion papers produced by the Council's modernisation steering group] would inevitably lead to the professional representative function being subjugated to the regulatory role. They support a Society structure in which the professional representative role continues to be performed by a body similar to the present Council, with a substantial lay membership involved only in the regulatory functions required by the Government. This, they say, would balance professional interest with public interest. They conclude by encouraging members to write to the Society supporting the proposals (PDF* 50K) put forward by the Young Pharmacists Group (PJ, 29 June, p906).

The 11 signatories are Bill Darling (president 1970–72), Jim Bannerman (1975–77), John Balmford (1978–79), David Sharpe (1979–81), Colin Hitchings (1983–84), Dr Hopkin Maddock (1984–85), Professor Geoff Booth (1985–87), Marion Rawlings (1989–90), David Coleman (1991–93), Nick Wood (1993–94) and Ian Caldwell (1996–97).

  * PDF files on PJ Online require Acrobat Reader 4 or later.