The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 275 No 7372 p531
22 October 2005

Society summary

Society's communications to be reviewed

In response to motions carried at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's 2005 annual general meeting (PJ, 28 May, p661), the Society's Council is planning to commission a detailed review of the Society's communications activities, both internal and external.

The October Council meeting was reminded that the AGM had carried a motion asking the Council to set up a communications committee “to ensure that all communications, both within and without the profession, are better able to influence events, and to improve communications between the Society and the members”.

The AGM had also carried a motion calling for a membership committee “to ensure that the branches, the regions and the wider membership received the necessary support and resources to meet their needs both now and for the future.”

The Council was asked how it wished to address those proposals.

During debate, a number of Council members expressed the view that forming new committees was not the solution to problems with communications. It was suggested that all Council committees had both communications and membership elements about them and that these elements should not be taken out and dealt with in isolation.

The Council also noted that there were implications for the Society’s communications activities in both the Society’s planned establishment of national boards for England, Scotland and Wales and the impending review of UK health regulators by Andrew Foster, workforce director at the Department of Health.

After a long debate, the Council agreed that it would be valuable to carry out a detailed review of communications activity, including internal communications with the membership. It was decided that the Public Affairs Planning Group, working with the Council sponsors for membership activity, should be asked to put together proposals for a review and bring them back to the Council in December. The review would cover communications activity generally within the Society, including how it applies to the membership, and looking at both internal processes and cross-organisational issues.