The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7244 p522-523
12 April 2003

Society summary

Council decisions on modernisation

The following are the 30 decisions on modernisation issues made by the Council at its April meeting (see p521). Most are concerned with eligibility to serve on the Council, the constitution of the Council, the register and registration.

Council members: eligibility criteria and removal

Fitness criteria

• Fitness eligibility for candidates for election to the reformed Council shall be specified as follows: (i) membership of the Society (or registered technician, if applicable); (ii) eligibility to serve as a charity trustee

Candidates' declarations

• Candidates for election to the reformed Council should declare: (i) whether or not they have ever been the subject of an adverse finding by any final determining fitness to practise committee (including health) of any regulatory body in the UK or overseas and, if so, the terms of the finding or voluntary restriction, the committee's direction, and the date of the finding or period to which the restriction applied; (ii) whether or not they have ever been convicted of a criminal offence, excluding convictions spent for the purpose of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act; (iii) any other adverse decisions that might be relevant to membership of the Council

Criteria for removal from Council

• Criteria for automatic removal of members of the reformed Council shall be specified as follows: (i) removal from the Register (for pharmacist or technician member of Council); (ii) ineligibility to serve as a charity trustee

• The reformed Council shall be empowered to exercise discretion in the removal or suspension of a member of Council for such reasons and according to such procedure as shall be specified in regulations.

Procedures for removal

• The suggested structure and procedure for the conduct panel [as set out in an appendix] be formalised, with the clarification that the panel may recommend a course of action but only the Council will have the power to impose a sanction

• The procedure should not include an appeals mechanism, on the basis that, in reaching a decision, the Council exhausts its authority, and it is up to the member to seek a judicial review if he or she so wishes

• A majority vote of at least two thirds of those members of Council present and voting (this two-thirds majority constituting an absolute majority of all members of Council) should be required to impose a sanction under this procedure

Constitution of the Council

Definition of lay member

• A lay person shall be defined as someone who is not and has never been registered by the Society

Casual vacancies

• Where a casual vacancy arises among the pharmacist or technician members of the reformed Council, a vacancy shall be filled through a by-election and the person so elected shall hold office for such period as the person whom he or she has replaced would have held office

Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists

Access to the Register

• The requirement to publish the Register shall be maintained, but the requirement to put on sale annually a printed copy of the Register shall be removed

Ability to leave the Register voluntarily

• Statutory provision shall be made to enable a pharmacist to leave the Register voluntarily by informing the Registrar in writing

Restoration of voluntary leavers

• A pharmacist who leaves the Register voluntarily and later applies for restoration should be subject to the same registration requirements as a pharmacist who has been removed for non-payment of fees and applies for restoration, other than the need to pay a penalty fee (although a restoration fee over and above the retention fee may be required)

• Any person who has left the Register for any reason may be subject to the fitness to practise committees when seeking restoration to the Register

• The reformed Council may require persons applying for restoration to the Register, who have been unregistered for more than a specified period, to undertake such education or training or to gain such experience as it shall specify

Registered name

• There shall be a statutory requirement for a pharmacist's registered name to be the one under which he or she practises, if applicable, or by which he or she is known

• Pharmacists should have a legal obligation to inform the Registrar of any change of name, providing such proofs as the Registrar may require, and the Registrar should authorise the reissue of their certificates accordingly

Power to require pharmacists to provide information

• The reformed Council should have powers to enable it to require such reasonable information as it sees fit from pharmacists to assist in the furtherance of its regulatory and professional duties

Provision of full postal address

• Any UK address supplied should match, wherever possible, that held on the official UK postal database and, if not, the Registrar should have authority to change the address supplied to match the entry held on this database

Registrar discretion if not notified of change of address

• The Registrar shall be empowered to remove a pharmacist from the Register if he or she receives no reply to a registered letter sent to the registered address within one month of the date of posting, nor to a subsequent registered letter within one month of the date of posting

Signing of certificates

• Certificates of Registration shall be signed either manually or electronically as the Registrar sees fit

Published Register and certificates

• The current legal requirement for identification on the published Register and certificates for those entering the Register with an appropriate European diploma shall be removed

Registration or restoration to the Register: removal of Privy Council function

• The function of the Privy Council specified in the Pharmacy Act 1954 section 11(2) should be removed

Character requirements for registration

Declaration of character

• The Council shall request the following provisions in the new legislation: (a) applicants for registration must make a declaration of good character in order to satisfy the Registrar that an applicant is capable of safe and effective practice; (b) applicants must provide such proofs in relation to their declaration as the Council sees fit, to be specified in regulations

Disqualification from registration

• The Council shall request the following provision in the new legislation: the Registrar, following such guidance as Council shall specify in regulations, may exercise the functions of the disciplinary committees, or refer such cases for internal consideration as he or she thinks fit for a decision on an applicant's fitness for admission to the Register

Duty on schools of pharmacy to disclose character concerns

• The Council shall request the following provision in the new legislation: that schools of pharmacy within the Society's jurisdiction be required to hold such adverse character information relating to pharmacy students as the Council may specify in regulations for disclosure to the Society at the point of application for registration

Appointment of Secretary/Chief Executive and Registrar

• The reformed Council should not appoint a Secretary of the Society annually

• A Secretary and/or Chief Executive of the Society may be appointed by the reformed Council for such period and on such terms as the Council may determine, through normal employment procedures appropriate to the position

Guidance on support workers

• Provided that the Society proceeds to register technicians, the reformed Council should have power to provide guidance to pharmacists, registered technicians, employers and such other persons as it thinks appropriate in respect of standards for the education and training, supervision and performance of persons who provide services in connection with those provided by pharmacists or registered technicians

Council members' private interests

• Statutory provision shall be requested to the effect that the Council shall establish and maintain a system for the declaration and registration of private interests of its members

• Statutory provision shall be requested to the effect that the Council shall publish entries recorded in a register of members' interests

• Various sets of questions used in order to compile the Register of Council members' interests shall be reviewed and consolidated in due course

• Advice shall be sought on the advisability of maintaining a register of interests of non-Council members of boards, committees or other bodies