The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 274 No 7331 (insert)
1/8 January 2005

This article
Reprint   Photocopy

PDF 150K, Acrobat Reader

Future thinking on services provided by the branches

In 2004 the Royal Pharmaceutical Society launched its Future Branch pilot project, in which nine branches received special funding to run branch services in line with objectives set down by the Society. At the branch and regional secretaries’ meeting in October 2005 the secretaries of three of the branches involved were asked to share their experiences. The same three now share their thoughts with readers of Network News

Clwyd

Involvement in the Future Branch initiative has enabled the Clwyd branch to revitalise some of its activities and implement new activities. Having additional funding of £3,000 in 2004 has obviously been helpful and Clwyd has concentrated on ensuring that there is a vibrant, local infrastructure.

A full committee was appointed at the branch annual general meeting in January 2004. Appointments included a bilingual public relations officer, who has attended the Society’s media training and has been busy establishing links with the local press. A new webmaster was appointed and has made considerable effort in updating the branch website (www.clwydpharmacy.org.uk). Two new sections have been added to the site – continuous professional development (CPD) and pharmacy development groups (PDGs).

Supporting the CPD needs of branch members is a priority for Clwyd, and initiatives are planned to inform and assist members’ understanding of CPD and to explain that CPD is not an onerous task. A dedicated meeting using the CPD toolkit has been arranged for January 2005.

The branch is also promoting the establishment of pharmacy development groups (PDGs) and information about these is on the website. This is another priority since it is important that local pharmacists (from all sectors of practice) contribute to a pharmacy strategy/action plan. This will inform the planning and commissioning mechanisms both the local health board (LHB) and the trust. Pharmacist members of LHBs have been invited by the branch to establish PDGs (with financial support being offered by the branch).

The branch accounts have now been merged with the Society’s accounts in what is known as unified banking. This involved closing two local bank accounts (business and social) and transferring the funds to the Society’s central bank. This may sound problematic and our initial impression was one of suspicion. In practice, however, the transfer went smoothly with no particular snags. The central banking initiative has not meant any loss of financial independence for the branch as we still have our own cheque book! We commend central banking for consideration by other branches.

We hope to continue to improve the format of our thrice-yearly newsletter and include more local features. We will endeavour to work jointly with the Welsh Centre for Postgraduate Pharmaceutical Education, the College of Pharmacy Practice and the neighbouring Gwynedd branch in delivering an educational, professional and social programme to meet the needs of members. Engaging members may be problematic but if the branch can offer a useful programme of activities, then the future should be secured.
— David Morgan, secretary, Clwyd branch

Shropshire

Most branch secretaries consider attendance at meetings of 10–15 per cent of the local membership to be a good result. The Shropshire branch saw a danger of complacency setting in on achieving such a level. The branch committee resolved to try to change this by using technology and communications to drive their aims forward.

The branch is now in regular contact with about 40 per cent of its members via e-mail (up from about 10 per cent a year ago) and uses every opportunity to encourage this form of communication. For speed and ease of communication it is unrivalled and enables the committee to have more regular contact with members. Although not everyone yet has access to e-mail, the large numbers who do make it possible to use this medium more and more. The Shropshire branch continues to send traditional mailings to members on a regular basis (stuffing envelopes is surely every branch secretary’s favourite job) but the cost of doing so precludes the issue of monthly mailings.

All relevant branch information is available on our website, and links to other relevant sites fulfil an aim to make the branch a venue for signposting members to places of interest, both pharmaceutical and other.

The information that the branch communicates to members is as important as how often it does so. Shropshire regularly circulates Society information that had previously only been available to branch secretaries. This will help members to see the Society as more than just a tax collector and policeman!

The Shropshire branch recognises that setting aside some meetings for topics in line with ideas from the Society is a sensible thing to do. However, the branch also values its independence. It is talking to local pharmaceutical advisers and in 2005 will try to align some of its educational meetings with the PCT agenda. We feel that this could boost the relevance of some meetings in the eyes of our members leading to a rise in attendance.

The branch is breaking down perceived barriers with the local pharmaceutical committee and it wishes to work more with other local health care organisations, sharing costs, building bridges and raising the profile of the branch and the profession locally.
— John Gentle, secretary, Shropshire branch

Stirling

At the beginning of the 2003–04 branch season, the Stirling and Central Scottish branch committee met to decide how the branch would develop in line with other local pharmacy organisations, such as the Scottish Centre for Post Qualification Pharmaceutical Education) and locality development groups.

The branch had developed a successful working relationship with SCPPE and was holding joint meetings covering clinical continuing education topics regularly. However, it was thought that although this guaranteed good attendance there was a risk that merging activities with other organisations would result in loss of the branch’s identity as a distinct and different provider of learning and networking opportunities for pharmacists.

The gaps in the market that the branch was ideally suited to deliver on were identified as: professional development; Royal Pharmaceutical Society issues; service development; models of practice; local peer support (eg, for CPD); and information sharing.

It was decided that purely clinical offerings should be left to SCPPE and local primary care/secondary care meetings. This was difficult because such meetings are popular, but the committee decided that duplication of other providers was not an option and the branch needed to find its niche. It was hoped that the advent of mandatory CPD would provide an opportunity for the branch to expand on several of the roles listed above, particularly peer support and information sharing.

It has been a good few months for the Stirling branch and meeting topics have covered areas such as the introduction of CPD portfolios, the Society’s draft new Charter, the new community pharmacy contract and practical aspects of training to be a pharmacist prescriber. Future meetings include an interactive information technology workshop that will cover a range of skills from basic e-mail and online CPD through to using GP practice systems. This is the type of meeting where local colleagues will help each other overcome hurdles to expanding their practice, building on the theme of peer support. Only time will tell whether this new approach is favourable for local pharmacists, but the value of trying different approaches to enable members to get the most out of the branch cannot be underestimated.
— Jonathan Burton, secretary, Stirling and Central Scottish branch