The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 272 No 7300 p650
22 May 2004

Society summary

Society a “vibrant and influential organisation”

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s “Annual review for 2003” underlines what a vibrant and influential organisation the profession has in the Society, the President, Gill Hawksworth, told the Society’s 163rd annual general meeting, held in London on 12 May.

The President said that the review, circulated with The Pharmaceutical Journal of 1 May, showed that 2003 was very much a year of change for the profession and for the Society. The Society was active on many different fronts by virtue of its integrated roles in professional leadership and development and professional regulation.

She said that she wished to introduce the review by highlighting a number of points. The year had seen pharmacy continue to move up the Government’s agenda, leading to some key developments for the profession. Pharmacists were now engaged in key new roles, including supplementary prescribing, to be supported in due course by a new community pharmacy contract.

The Society had continued to encourage and influence the full implementation of the pharmacy plans for England, Scotland and Wales. To underpin this, it was working with a wide range of NHS and non-NHS organisations to ensure that the profession could contribute to policy development and implementation.

There had been many developments in pharmacy education in 2003. The continuing professional development framework was rolled out to a further 18,000 pharmacists. By the end of 2004, all pharmacists would have been included in the programme.

The research and development agenda had also moved ahead. The first phase of the Society’s four-year research strategy was completed with the publication of the pharmacy workforce census 2002, and the report “Understanding innovation in community pharmacy”. Several projects also had been commissioned to inform future planning and policy development at the Society by helping to shape understanding of complex pharmacy workforce and career expectations and motivations of pharmacists.

During 2003, the Society had continued the programme of organisational reform to ensure that it was equipped to fulfil its entire range of roles. The Council finalised its proposals for the new legislation for the Society. These had been submitted for consideration by ministers as the basis for new draft legislation.

In March 2003 the Council decided to seek a new Charter to complement the Society’s new legislation. A wide-ranging consultation process brought forth a range of views and concerns, which enabled the Council to make significant improvements to the draft new Charter, which was finalised and submitted to the Privy Council in December.

In March 2003 the Council also agreed a new staff structure for the organisation, based on seven directorates and designed to strengthen the Society’s integrated roles as a professional organisation and modern regulatory body. The Society was also reviewing its organisational needs in the light of devolution.

The President continued: “One thing that has been clear to me during my first year as President is the commitment of the staff across the organisation. They constantly seek to improve the way that they help implement the Council’s policy decisions. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their hard work and dedication.”

Turning to the collection of retention fees, the President said that in 2003 steps were taken to improve the collection of the annual retention fees and premises returns. Although there had been some teething problems with the new process, it went smoothly for the vast majority of members.

Finally, on political representation, she said that the Society continued to develop its role as the voice of the profession with a wide range of political audiences in England, Scotland, Wales and Europe. On the profession’s behalf, the Society had taken up a wide range of issues with the Government, Parliaments, officials, the NHS and others. Representing the Society in its concerns was hugely important. The Society’s reputation was high; it was seen as a credible, authoritative and influential organisation. The profession’s development was now firmly on the political agenda. These were things to be proud of.

Mark Koziol (Birmingham) said that he was keenly interested in patient safety and believed that an effective regulator needed to be able to deal quickly and appropriately with all situations where standards had not come up to scratch. In 2003, he said, the Infringements Committee had dealt with 333 cases, compared with 56 in 1993. In 2003, it had issued 285 letters to pharmacists, compared with 26 in 1993. In 2003, it had referred 43 matters to the Statutory Committee, compared with 14 in 1993.

The reason was probably something to do with the actions of the Council. According to an article in The Journal (PJ, 21 February, p229), the inspectors used to be able to issue warnings for minor infringements but now had to make formal reports to headquarters. Previously a patient who made a complaint would learn the outcome of the investigation immediately, and the risk management opportunity would be handled effectively through a prompt local solution. Now, the process of formal reporting could take many months, resulting in anxiety for all concerned.

An effective regulator needed to be able to deal with poor standards quickly and efficiently and in a way that best encouraged higher standards. The best way to improve standards was to encourage local decision-making wherever possible and to avoid a top-down mentality. The Council edict had starved the inspectorate of much of its general authority and robbed them of the opportunity to act quickly and apply common sense. It was not in the interests of patients, pharmacists or the profession. He asked the Council of the Society to review this edict urgently.

The Secretary and Registrar said that it was not appropriate to compare numbers now with those in 1993. There were more complaints and the public did complain more. She confirmed that all complaints were now reported to the Infringements Committee, which met more frequently. The procedures were being reviewed.

Mandie Lavin (the Society’s Director of Fitness to Practise and Legal Affairs) pointed out that, according to the annual review, the Society received 654 complaints in 2003. Only 333 found their way to the Infringements Committee because of the sort of activity Mr Koziol described, in terms of giving advice locally. Assisting pharmacists to get it right on the ground was actually happening in practice.