Pharmacy bodies support creation of a royal college
 |
Commenting on the proposals
The Department of Health says that it is keen to hear
comments from pharmacy
stakeholders about the proposals in the White Paper.
Those who would
like to
share their views can contact Diana Kenworthy at 4th floor, Skipton
House,
80 London Road, London
e-mail diana.kenworthy@dh.gsi.gov.uk |
There is general support from pharmacy organisations for the concept that a royal college might evolve from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society but opinions differ over how membership should be determined.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee warns that the profession
should be wary of a Government-created leadership body. “Leadership
and influence should come from the profession itself,” Sue Sharpe,
chief executive of the PSNC, told The Journal. She highlighted that the
medical royal colleges comprise members with knowledge and skills in
specialist areas. The colleges have influence as a result of their specialisms. “It
is unclear how this model would be reflected in the proposed royal college
of pharmacy, particularly if, as has been suggested by the Government,
membership might be mandatory. This would not be consistent with the
principles of the royal colleges and, at the launch event, representatives
of pharmacy specialisms expressed strong reservations about this proposal.” Other
responses from a range of pharmacy bodies are covered in a News
feature this week.
Following publication of the White
Paper on the regulation of health care professionals last week (PJ, 24 February, p207), it was announced
that a short-term working party has been set up by the Department of
Health to develop a robust, deliverable and cost-effective implementation
plan for the General Pharmaceutical Council. It will also help with initial
planning for a professional leadership body akin to a medical royal college
model.
The working party is chaired by Lord Carter of Coles and its members
include the chief pharmaceutical officers for the UK, representatives
from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Council, the Pharmaceutical
Society of Northern Ireland and other pharmacists (see Panel below).
The composition of the working party was determined in consultation with
ministers, the
chief pharmacists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and
Lord Carter. The DoH has confirmed that its terms of reference are in
the process of being finalised and will be made available in the near
future.
Members of Carter Working Party
Lord Carter of Coles
Patrick Carter is a Labour life peer who has advised the Government
on a wide range of issues. He has had responsibility for reviewing
legal aid, the Criminal Records Bureau, offender services, NHS
pathology services and HM Revenue and Customs online service among
others. He was a director of nursing homes company Westminster
Healthcare from 1975 to 1999 and is currently a director of McKesson
Information Solutions UK, which provides health care-related IT
and other services to, among others, community pharmacy businesses.
McKesson’s parent US corporation is involved with pharmaceutical
supply chain management.
Other members
• Jim Inglis runs a consultancy company specialising in statistical
analysis
• Simon Roberts is a partner in IBM Global Business Services
UK.
Mr Roberts has 25 years’ experience of management consulting.
The Department of Health says that he is widely regarded as a leading
expert in how organisations manage capital projects to achieve
their corporate objectives. Members of panel with links to pharmacy bodies
• Keith Ridge, chief pharmaceutical officer, DoH
• Bill Scott, chief pharmaceutical officer, Scottish Executive Health
Department
• Carwen Wynne Howells, chief pharmaceutical adviser, Welsh
Assembly Government
• Norman Morrow, chief pharmaceutical officer,
Northern Ireland Department of Health and Social Security
• Hemant
Patel, President, Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• Gerald Alexander,
the Society’s Vice-President
• Graham Phillips and John Hanlon,
members of the Society’s Council
• Raymond Anderson, president,
Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland
• Soraya Dhillon, head
of University of Hertfordshire school of pharmacy
• John Farwell,
pharmaceutical consultant
• Malcolm Partridge, chief pharmacist, Queen’s
Medical Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
• Ash Soni,
community pharmacist |
The working party plans to hold a seminar in March to help with
the initial planning of a possible new professional leadership body.
Key stakeholders
will be invited. In addition, the DoH says that it will be exploring
other ways for the pharmacy profession to feed into this work.
At a briefing last week, Keith Ridge, chief pharmaceutical officer
for England, said that the working party will carry out an economic
and financial
evaluation for establishing a GPC and a royal college and sustaining
them in the future. However, he emphasised that the GPC will be established
regardless of the outcome of that evaluation.
The working party has already held two meetings and plans to meet fortnightly
until the end of March, when it is due to present its report to ministers.
Correction
It is the US McKesson Corporation that provides services to community pharmacy businesses and not McKesson Information Solutions UK.
|
News feature p241
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader