The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 271 No 7257 p65
12 July 2003

Society summary

Council acts on members' concerns

The Council of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has agreed to develop further its future organisational model to reflect properly its commitment to an integrated role as a professional and regulatory body. It made its decision at an all-day meeting on 2 July, at which it discussed the issues that had led to the special general meeting on 1 June.

The Council accepted that its existing model needed further work in regard to the Society's professional leadership and development function. However, it agreed that proposed alternative models predicated on institutional separation of the regulatory and professional leadership were also unsatisfactory.

The Council therefore resolved that further work should be carried out as a high priority to determine a credible and appropriate structure associated with a single governing Council plus a range of boards involved in particular areas of work, each with an appropriate balance of professional and lay members. The aim would be to achieve a structure that would give equal weight to the Society's roles of professional leadership and development and “modern regulation” and would be equally effective in discharging those roles.

At the end of the meeting, which was attended by all but one of the Council's 24 members, there was unanimous agreement that progress had been made towards resolving the issues that had led to the SGM. The Council is confident that definitive progress will be achieved by September.

Set out below is a statement on the matter by the President, Dr Gillian Hawksworth. A report of the 2 July meeting begins overleaf.