New President promises a strong team of officers
The President: experienced and committed officers |
Nicholas Wood, the new President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, has spoken about how hard it was to stand for election against Gill Hawksworth, whom he considered a friend. However, he says, he put his name forward because the change in the balance of the Council made it difficult to continue with the same officers, despite their qualities.
In an address to the Society’s Barnet branch on 10 June (the day
after his election), Mr Wood acknowledged that some people would be surprised,
shocked or upset by the changes in the Council. Paying tribute to Dr
Hawksworth and the other officers for 2003–04, he said that they
were all committed and sincere.
And commenting on Michael Schofield’s resignation from the Council,
Mr Wood said that Professor Schofield had been an excellent Privy Council
nominee member of Council. He was deeply involved in NHS matters and
his wisdom was much appreciated. His resignation was a great loss, and
the President hoped his fears would prove unfounded.
The President promised that the Society’s elected officers for
2004–05 would be a strong, experienced and committed team. Both
he and the new Vice-President, Hemant Patel, are experienced Council
members who have previously served as president. The new Treasurer, John
Jolley, who also has previous Council service, is an industrial pharmacist
with considerable management experience. Working with Gill Hawksworth
(who remains an officer as the Society’s Immediate Past President),
they will do their best to resolve conflict and find a way through any
difficulties.
The President said that the balance on the Council had altered because,
by a democratic process, a group of people had been elected on a ticket
of concern about constitutional changes. Like the rest of the Council,
they recognised the need to increase lay representation in the Society’s
work and the need to pay regard to the public interest. While recognising
the realities of modern regulation, they also saw a need to satisfy the
membership and retain the Society’s strong dual role.
They accepted that the Society had to change, despite its exemplary record
as a regulator and its work to improve standards through initiatives
such as continuing professional development. Changes are required to
meet the recommendations of the Kennedy report. Having found deficiencies
in the policing of the medical profession, the Kennedy inquiry took a
broad brush approach affecting all health professions and requiring comparability
between regulatory bodies, particularly on the matter of increased lay
representation on their governing bodies.
It was its dual role as regulator and membership body that had caused
problems for the Society, which needed to meet the Kennedy requirements
while also satisfying its own members. To do so required changes to the
draft new Charter. They might only be minor changes, but the Council
did need to take another look at the Charter.
The President went on to say that the Society’s achievements in
recent years were enormous. During his previous service on the Council
it had been rare for Society representatives to meet Government ministers,
but Dr Hawksworth had had frequent meetings, and pharmacy was now involved
far more in policy-making decisions. Pharmacists locally were also much
more involved. For example, Essex Local Pharmaceutical Committee had
now got pharmacists onto the professional executive committee of every
primary care trust in the county.
Society initiatives such as Pharmacy in a New Age had moved the profession
forward, so that pharmacists’ value was now recognised and they
were moving into new areas to carry out tasks, such as prescribing, that
the Government wanted them to do.
Pharmacists often did not appreciate how much the Society had done for
them, but other professions were jealous of its achievements. One thing
that attracted jealousy was the Society’s branch system. The President
foresaw a role for the branches in supporting CPD. Because PCTs had their
own agendas, CPD would have a local dimension, and the branches could
help provide CPD that addressed the requirements of the PCT.
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal