The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7227 p826-827
7 December 2002

Society summary

Why we need a pharmaceutical register that gives reliable information

The Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists is not simply a list of names, addresses and dates that is published and printed annually. It is a statutory database that is updated on an ongoing basis throughout the year with the prime purpose of providing an assurance to the public that pharmacists in practice are registered health care professionals. Future developments arising from the modernisation of professional self-regulation will mean that the register will become more dynamic, more complex and more important.

The Annual Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists: not just a list of names, addresses and dates

Using its recent workforce census, the Society has begun the process of checking and validating the data currently held on the register and will follow up notification of changes in the coming months. It will also review what additional information will need to be collected in the future and how this is best done (PJ, 31 August, p302).

Why keep a register?

Why do we have a Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists? The primary reason for keeping the register is to provide reassurance to the public that any person who describes him or herself as, or practises as, a pharmacist in Britain has met the recognised entry standards relating to health, character and education and is bound by the profession's Code of Ethics. The register therefore provides the public with a measure of reassurance regarding the conduct and competence of all pharmacists.

The maintenance of an accurate register is fundamental to the functions undertaken by the Society in its role as a regulatory body. Many of the functions carried out by the Society support the creation and maintenance of the register. For example, the accreditation of the undergraduate degree programmes, the oversight of the preregistration programme and examination and the administration of the overseas registration and reciprocity arrangements are all designed to ensure that the people whose names appear on the register have met the requisite entry standards. The disciplinary processes and the forthcoming health committee ensure that only those who are fit to practise remain on the register.

In the future, the register will need to reflect more accurately continuing competence and such things as specialisation. These changes follow on from new public expectations of all health professional regulatory bodies and from Government policy to modernise the National Health Service and extend the roles of health professionals, including pharmacists, into new roles such as prescribing.

As the Society continues to develop its continuing professional development programme, the Council will be considering issues such as the revalidation of pharmacists as a condition of continuing practice. As the register itself becomes more detailed, the processes and mechanisms for maintaining it will become more complex.

Need for accuracy

The Society has always taken its role as a registration and regulatory body seriously. The accuracy of the register and the effectiveness of the processes that support its creation and maintenance are of crucial importance to the Society, to pharmacists and to the public. Any failure by the Society to maintain an accurate and up-to-date register will, in the future, be an issue that will be pursued through the Council for the Regulation of Health Care Professionals.

Regulators need to be in a position to contact any registered health care professional in a timely manner. In the case of the Society this contact includes communicating official notices, disseminating changes in professional guidance and standards, issuing annual retention fee demands, following up complaints and processing disciplinary cases.

Pharmacists' responsibilities

All pharmacists have a responsibility to notify the Society of any changes in circumstance that might affect the details recorded about them in the register. The following section outlines the current requirements and indicates some areas where the Society will be seeking to implement change.

Registered name It is important that the name that appears on the register is the name under which the pharmacist practises or is known. Confusion may arise if a pharmacists is known by, and practises under, a name other than that which appears in the register. In such a situation it may not be possible for an employer to verify readily a pharmacist's registration status.

Any pharmacist who changes the name under which he or she practises or who wishes the register to reflect the award of a PhD should provide documentary evidence to the Society's registration section. Details are available on the Society's website (see panel).

Registered address As health care professionals, pharmacists are accountable for their conduct 24 hours a day and seven days a week. This is the basis of pharmacists' contract with society, which the Society has the duty of upholding. It is therefore important that the registered address is one at which the pharmacist can be contacted in a timely manner, which is most likely to be a pharmacist's personal residential address.

Currently the address provided for inclusion in the register is at the discretion of the pharmacist. Any recognised postal address can be provided — not necessarily a personal residential one. Preliminary results from the census indicate that around 8 per cent of pharmacists do not currently provide a personal residential address but choose instead to give a work address.

The Society recognises that a number of factors may determine which address a pharmacist provides. They include concerns for safety and privacy if a personal residential address is published, a wish to be included within a branch of the Society near work rather than near home, and a wish to receive The Pharmaceutical Journal at work and not at home.

To address issues of safety and privacy, the Society is seeking to change its Byelaws (see news item, p825, and Official Notice, p831) so that the address in the published register is restricted to the postal town, as is currently the case with the version of the register accessible on the Society's website. So far as issues such as branch membership and mailings are concerned, the Society is also exploring options for holding a second and separate address for such purposes.

In the meantime, all pharmacists should ensure that the address the Society holds is one at which they can be contacted reliably and that it is accurate and up to date. Pharmacists wishing to amend their registered address should notify the registration section of the new address. Notification must be in writing, but this can include notification by e-mail or fax. It is not possible to action amendments to the register that have not been submitted in writing.

Members should note that the workforce census form circulated recently is not a valid method for notifying the Society of a change of address. Any change of address included on a census form needs to be provided directly to the registration section at the Society (see above) in order to effect a change to the register.

Because demands for 2003 retention fees have now been despatched to registered addresses, any pharmacist or pharmacy owner who has recently changed addresses and has not notified the Society in writing is advised to ensure that they have made suitable arrangements for mail to be forwarded.

Register of Pharmacy Premises Pharmacy owners are reminded that pharmacy premises retention fees for 2003 become due on 1 January 2003. Retention fee demands have already been sent to the pharmacist's registered address in the case of sole proprietors or the company's registered address in the case of bodies corporate. Where a single registered company address which covers a number of premises is provided — particularly if this is an external address such as an accountant's office — superintendent pharmacists or company owners must ensure that arrangements have been made to deal with the retention fee demand(s) expediently.

Any changes to company registration details, including changes of superintendent pharmacist, must be notified to the registration section accurately and in a timely manner. Standard forms are available from the Society's website. Failure to notify changes in the registration details or to pay retention fees may mean that the business is being conducted unlawfully.

Category of retention fee Payment of an appropriate annual retention entitles an eligible individual to practise as a pharmacist in Britain. A pharmacist who has retired from work or who cannot work because of illness or who lives overseas may be eligible to pay a reduced fee to remain on the register. The five categories of retention fee areas follows:

Full fee

Paid by any person in paid employment in any occupation, not just pharmacy-related, for more than 13 weeks of the year

Part-time fee

Paid by a person in paid employment in any occupation, not just pharmacy-related, for fewer than 13 weeks of the year

Ill health

Paid by a person who is unable to work in any occupation because of ill health

Retired

Paid by a person who is over 60 years of age and who has declared that he or she is not working in any occupation

Overseas

Paid by a person not resident and not working in any occupation in Britain and who has an overseas address

Other data In previous years pharmacists have received additional requests for data along with the retention fee notices, eg, workforce data and special interest group membership. Workforce data have been identified as a priority for developing future strategy and have been collected and analysed as a research project. Special interest group membership information is not being collected as part of the research but will be updated at a later date.

Conclusion

The Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists is the means by which the Society can assure the public that only registered pharmacists are practising. Pharmacists have a responsibility to ensure that they provide accurate, relevant and up-to-date information for inclusion in the register. In line with regulation in other health care professions, the requirements for retention on the pharmaceutical register will be more detailed in the future.