CPD support role could help revive dormant branches
Suggestions for reviving the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s inactive branches were put by a number of speakers during a discussion forum held before the Society’s annual general meeting on 12 May.
The discussion arose from a brief exchange on continuing professional
development support for pharmacists. Peter Wilson, CPD adviser to the
Society, said that an initiative to use the Society’s branches
to provide CPD support was about to be launched and might help in resurrecting
branches that have become inactive.
Mr Wilson made his remarks in answer to a question from Brian Miller
(East Metropolitan branch and Hertsmere Primary Care Trust). Mr Miller
then went on to point out that access to branches is not uniform across
Britain and suggested that the branches could
not provide CPD support without some remuneration.
Mr Wilson said that only a small proportion of pharmacists would be looking
to branches for support. A small survey among pharmacists in the north-west,
who were the first to receive the CPD pack, had found that most were
confident in their practice of CPD and not looking for support.
Answering a question about what the Society did to help branches back
on to their feet, Beverley Parkin, the Society’s Director of Public
Affairs and Communications, said that a review of the branches had suggested
that CPD was a key thing they wanted to be involved in. Nine branches
were now working with the Society on a three-year cycle to look at the
future branch model, how branches might do things differently in a more
planned strategic way in the future.
Nicola Gray (member of Council) suggested that when a branch became moribund
it was best to leave it like that for a while. Once people began to realise
that nothing had come through the post for a year or so, the Society
could provide a survey form to send to all branch members. The form asked
basic questions about preferred days, times and venues for meetings,
to try to find some of the reasons why people were not turning out. The
final question was about willingness to get involved in committee work,
if a branch was to get up and running. Usually two or three people would
respond positively.
What often scared people was the thought that if they went to the branch
AGM, they would end up as branch chairman or treasurer. But for a fledgling
branch, no one has to take those roles. So long as somebody can accept
mail in the first instance, they can all just be committee members. Gradually,
people would fall naturally into roles.
Her message was that if anybody was experiencing problems in their area,
there were tools available. The Society’s membership team were
more than willing to support any members in an area who would like to
get things going again.
Douglas Simpson (chairman, Bromley branch, and a member of Council) said
that his branch committee had its one and only meeting immediately after
the branch AGM. It was possible to reduce the burden for committee members
by combining meetings in that way and doing the rest of the business
by e-mail. The key was finding people who were prepared to get things
going when branches were moribund.
Dennis Higgins (Thames Valley) said that his branch had been moribund,
but several young pharmacists had decided they would like to revive it.
They published a notice in The Journal, and a first meeting was well
attended. As Dr Gray had suggested, they had started with nobody taking
any particular role.
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