Council agrees composition of national boards for Scotland and Wales
The Council of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has agreed a composition for the national pharmacy boards for Scotland and Wales but has asked a working group to take a further look at a possible composition for the English board.
At the December
Council meeting it was agreed that the Scottish and Welsh
boards should not have reserved places for sectoral representation. Both
would include a pharmacy technician (as would the English board). The
Society’s President and Vice-President would be ex-officio members,
as would a pharmacist Council member and a lay Council member resident
in the country. The country’s chief pharmaceutical officer would
be invited to specific meetings. Branches would be invited to send observers.
The boards would have 13 (Scotland) or 12 (Wales) members. But the size
of the board would be reviewed after a “suitable” period.
Each board would be able to co-opt up to thee additional members to fill
specified gaps in their make-up.
Candidates for election to the boards would have to be practising pharmacists,
self-nominated but with support from other members resident in the country.
Election would be by the so-called “first-past-the-post” system.
Council members would not be eligible for election.
Elected and co-opted board members would have full voting rights. Ex-officio
members would be able to contribute to debate but not to vote.
Members would be elected to serve for three years, with a maximum of
three consecutive terms. Officer would be elected annually, with the
board having flexibility to determine the number of terms of office.
Communication with the Council would be through a liaison group sitting
in parallel to the boards. It would consist of Council officers and the
chairmen and vice-chairmen of the boards, supported by the Secretary
and Registrar and directors.
Communication between the boards would be managed by the board directors
in consultation with the board chairmen.
The Council noted that two meetings of Council members resident in England
had been unable to reach a consensus on the composition of the English
national board. Unresolved issues included which sectors of the profession
should have reserved places on the board, what the maximum number of
allowable terms of office should be, whether non-practising pharmacists
should be eligible to serve on the board and whether the chief pharmaceutical
officer in England should be invited to specific meetings of the board.
It was agreed that a further meeting of Council members resident in England
should be held to give these issues further consideration.
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal