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The register
A generation of Boxers consigned to the knacker’s yard
From Mr P. Melnick, MRPharmS
What is it that makes committees get so involved in the minutiae of
dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s that they completely
lose sight of the big picture?
When E. J. Shellard, now in his 90s, wrote to say that he felt compelled
to resign his membership (PJ, 28 August, p285), no one at Lambeth, not
the President, not the Vice-President, not the Treasurer, not a member
of Council, not a single, humble apparatchik wrote to offer either an
explanation or an apology to this most eminent man.
And what of Martin Silver? Only last week, the immediate past-president
of our local branch and a stalwart member for more years than most of
us can remember stepped in for a couple of hours at short notice to enable
me to fulfil an obligation elsewhere. During a brief chat, he told me
of his intention to resign.
In one move a whole generation of Boxers is consigned to the knacker’s
yard by the Napoleons of Lambeth; all their lifetime’s hard-earned,
self-worth is dissipated in an instant.
I would be proud to be a member of a Society in which men such as these
would be honorary members. And not just them, but all that generation
who each, in their own way, helped shape the profession and placed pharmacy
so benevolently and kindly in the public eye.
I have always maintained that pharmacy houses more caring practitioners
than any other profession. I would wager that every single working day,
pharmacists do more work, pro bono, than any other. So why does that
generosity of spirit so mysteriously evaporate when it comes to looking
after our own.
I accept that in the short time between now and the end of the year it
will be impossible for the Council to reverse its decision. But it could,
however, act magnanimously and grant all those who intend to resign for
financial or other reasons a year’s honorary membership. And those
involved could similarly be invited to make a voluntary donation to the
Society if they so wished.
That should buy us the time needed to debate this important issue properly
in the New Year, and short-term locum cover will still be there when
it is required.
Perry Melnick
Ilford,
Essex
An expensive traditional fool to myself?
From Mr M. J. How, MRPharmS
I work within the industrial sector of the profession in my practice
of pharmacy. Although I agree with the general tenet of Gordon
Munro’s
remarks (PJ, 18 September, p384) that all pharmacists who wish to practise
must demonstrate their ongoing ability to practise at the highest level,
I also have some considerable difficulty in justifying to myself the
need for continued registration. I have not practised in community for
more than 30 years or in hospital ever. I do not have to be a member
to continue to practise my chosen branch of the profession other than
as a qualified person. If I were to allow my membership to lapse I would
lose the ability to call myself a registered pharmacist with my clients.
I get no help from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society as recorded on these
letter pages on several occasions. I would lose the PJ, which usually
contains little of relevance to my area of professional activity. I can
now subscribe separately to Industrial Pharmacist which I used to receive
from the Society but now no more.
I recently attended a branch meeting to practise use of the continuing
professional development system to record my CPD. There were about 10
of us (out of a branch membership of around 200). I am the only industrial
practitioner. I was the only one who had already used the internet to
register my CPD. I fear that until the Society actually takes members’ registrations
away for failure to demonstrate fitness for ongoing practice through
availability of a satisfactory CPD record no one is going to take the
issue seriously. Regrettably the majority of my fellow pharmacists seem
to believe that if they keep a low profile the issue will pass them by.
We just have to look at the pathetic levels of interest shown in the
elections of our Council members.
In the meantime I continue my sorrowful reconsideration of ongoing membership
and whether or not I am just being an expensive traditional fool to myself.
Can someone convince me that I should remain a member?
Mike How
M. J. H. International Ltd
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