The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7406 p765
24 June 2006

Society summary

Scottish branches need strong links with new pharmacy board

The importance of strong links between the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's new Scottish Pharmacy Board and the branch network in Scotland has been emphasised at two recent meetings in Edinburgh.

On 13 June, a meeting of secretaries and chairmen of Scottish branches discussed a range of issues, including how the board might discharge its function of “supporting the Society’s branches in Scotland”, and decided that the branch network should have a key role in the work of the board.

The chairman of the Society’s Scottish Executive, Rose Marie Parr, told the meeting that the executive was committed to working closely with the branch network in the lead-up to the implementation of the board. She said: “The branches are an integral part within the process as we move towards the creation of the Scottish Pharmacy Board.  I cannot stress enough how important the branch network is as a link to our members and to what is going on in all areas of Scotland.”

On the following day, the Scottish Executive decided that fully realising the opportunities presented by the board would require it to be “truly engaged” with the branches and members. The executive reached that conclusion after a discussion on the potential of the new boards following an update from the Scottish Department Director, Lyndon Braddick, regarding the Scottish Pharmacy Board, who drew attention to the draft regulations for the boards (PJ, 10 June, p703).

Other topics considered by the executive on 14 June included the draft Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians Order. The executive also heard from the vice-chairman, Dot Anderson, that a meeting had been held with representatives of the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK to discuss the implications of the Order for technicians in Scotland. The Scottish Department had prepared a briefing to answer technicians’ questions relating to the issue.

The director informed the executive that the Scottish Department was continuing to work with the Scottish Executive Health Department on the revision of draft Regulations pertaining to the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005.