English board is keen to work closely with branches
 |
February board meeting
Attendance Present at the meeting
were the chairman (Paul Bennett), the vice-chairman (Beth Taylor),
Martin Astbury, Brian Curwain,
Sid Dajani, Richard Daniszewski, Lindsey Gilpin, Rachael Lemon,
Christopher Morris, Gail
Thomas and Steve Wicks.
Apologies Apologies
for absence were received from Seema Agha, Jonathan Buisson
and David Miller.
Guests Present by invitation were David Bethel (Wigan branch),
Alan Cranke (Teesside branch), Steven Curtis (Harrow and Hillingdon
branch),
Sue Faulding (Leeds branch), Graham Pickup (Bolton branch),
Allan Robinson (Nottingham branch) and David Stanton (Halifax
branch). |
Working closely with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's regions and
branches in England was identified as a priority for the English Pharmacy
Board at its inaugural meeting, held in London on 22 February 2007.
The board noted that it needed a strategy for communicating with the
Society’s 11 English regions, the 100 branches in England and the
British Pharmaceutical Students Association. It was agreed that each
board member would be allotted to work with a specific region and a number
of branches and would be expected to attend regional and branch meetings
to report on the board’s work and receive feedback.
The
decision would be implemented by a communications working group that
the board also resolved to establish. The group would be given some delegated
authority to make decisions without referral back to the board, so that
it could respond quickly to events. The exact level of delegated authority
would be considered at the board’s next meeting.
The Society’s Director of Practice and Quality Improvement, David
Pruce, who had given a presentation suggesting the formation of a communications
group, said that it was envisaged that it would consist of four or five
members who would meet regularly, supported by Michele Savage, public
affairs officer.
Earlier, following his election
as chairman of the board (PJ, 3 March,
p259), Paul Bennett had stated that it was vital to the work of the
board that the seven branch observers at the meeting reported back to
their
branches the information they heard at the meeting. Mr Bennett added
that the observers had significant experience and that if they wished
to contribute to the board’s discussion it would be enriching
for the board to hear their views. Priorities The board agreed a list of priorities for the year ahead.
They included public health, consultations from the National Institute
for Health and Clinical Excellence, professional leadership and pharmacist
prescribing.
Academic pharmacist The board agreed to co-opt an academic pharmacist
to fill the vacant sectoral place on the board. It agreed to seek nominations
by accepting an offer from John Smart, head of Brighton school of pharmacy,
to advertise the vacancy among the schools of pharmacy. The board would
also approach the committee of the Academic Pharmacy Group. The nominations
received will be considered at the board’s second meeting, on 13
April.
White Paper In a departure from its published agenda, the board received
a briefing on the White Paper, “Trust,
assurance and safety: the regulation of health professionals in the 21st
century”, which
had been published the previous day. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal