Council agrees process for reviewing draft Section 60 Order when published later in year
The Council has agreed a review process to enable it to finalise its response to the draft pharmacy Order under Section 60 of the Health Act 1999 within the three-month consultation period triggered by its publication.
The Order is expected to cover education and training, continuing professional
development, registration, fitness-to-practise machinery, the regulation
of pharmacy technicians and some aspects of governance.
The Society expects that the draft will be based on its own reform programme,
to which the Government has already given broad support, but it will
also reflect Government policy that may not be identical to the Society’s.
At the October
Council meeting, the Council was advised that Ministers
plan to publish the draft Order in November or December. However, it
seemed likely to appear in late December rather than in November or early
December.
It was agreed that, as soon as possible after the draft Order’s
publication, Council members would receive a briefing pack containing
the draft Order, the Department of Health consultation document and briefing
documents prepared by the office.
The membership would be alerted to the consultation through a Pharmaceutical
Journal pull-out section plus website publication of the consultation
documents and briefing materials. To encourage members’ feedback,
there would be a web-based comment form and a dedicated e-mail address
for comments.
If the draft Order appears by early December, the Council will hold an
extra strategy day in mid-January 2005 to allow it to have a full discussion
and then approve a draft response at its February 2005 meeting. If the
draft Order appears later, the Council will discuss it at the February
2005 meeting and then approve a draft response at a formal session during
a planned strategy day in early March 2005. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal