Work of Practice Committee to be devolved to national boards
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Practice Committee is to be disbanded and its work taken forward by the national pharmacy boards, the Society's Council has confirmed.
At the October Council
meeting, it was agreed on the recommendation
of the Governance Committee that the Practice Committee should be disbanded
at the end of the Council year in May 2007 — subject to the national
pharmacy boards having taken office by then.
It was also agreed that, once the national boards are in place, their
chairmen should be able to attend and contribute to Council meetings,
but not vote. This would reflect the current situation with the chairmen
of the Scottish and Welsh executives.
John Hanlon (chairman of the Governance Committee) said that the national
boards had to have something to do. The Governance Committee had considered
that they should be heavily involved in the day-to-day practice of pharmacy.
He added that, although the Governance Committee recommended disbanding
the Practice Committee at end of the current Council year, it was open
to the Practice Committee to suggest that it should continue for a longer
period or to propose a new role for itself.
Jonathan Buisson said that, as the only identifiable member of any of
the national boards so far, he gave his wholehearted support to the recommendations
put forward by the Governance Committee. It was not enough for the national
boards to be set up: the Society had to be seen to close down other redundant
activity, otherwise it could generate an infinite number of committees,
working groups, etc.
Sultan Dajani (chairman of the Practice Committee) said that many of
the concerns of Practice Committee members had been addressed by the
decision to establish a liaison group [consisting of the Society’s
Officers together with the chairmen and vice-chairman of the boards,
and supported by
the Secretary and Registrar and relevant directors]. The most important
thing was that nothing fell between gaps. If there was a
role for it, the Practice Committee could be resurrected.
The Treasurer said that he commended the Governance Committee for a plausible
plan but asked what provision had been made for the special interest
groups, which currently reported to the Practice Committee.
Christine Gray (head of corporate governance) said that an issue arising
in a membership group committee that was country-specific would be channelled
to the relevant board. If it was relevant to more than one country within
Britain, then it would be taken forward within approaches agreed by the
liaison group.
Mrs Gray added that the membership group committees had themselves been
asked to consider how they could best work with the boards in the future.
The Hospital Pharmacists Group, for example, had published proposals
for restructuring itself to better work with the boards (PJ,
7 October, supplement pS4 PDF (290K)).
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