Royal college will destroy pharmacy infrastructure, says IPMI
Establishing a new royal college structure in pharmacy will take many years and will destroy much of pharmacy's infrastructure, the Institute of Pharmacy Management International has said. It has also warned that consultations on professional regulation have gone beyond their remit and breached Cabinet Office guidelines.
Commenting on proposals for a royal
college-type structure for pharmacy, the IPMI said that such a model
suits the NHS and medical specialties but its role outside the NHS is
unclear. A chartered institute or society model would be more appropriate
to lead pharmacy. An institute or society can be subject specific rather
than specialty or profession specific and can have a variety of membership
categories. Its substructure can also provide for specialisations and
higher qualifications.
“A review of other options to a college is imperative, as is an
analysis of what would be lost by dissolving the [Royal Pharmaceutical]
Society,” the
institute said.
It added: “The White Paper has generated unintended consequences
beyond regulation and appears to have been generated by a process that
has been unfair and rushed with inadequate consultation. … The RPSGB
should consider taking action to avoid being driven, against its members’ will,
down a route that might destroy the profession.”
The institute points out that Cabinet Office guidelines for consultation
on regulatory proposals say: “Regulation should be focused on the
problem. You should aim to minimise side effects and ensure that no unintended
consequences will result from the regulation being implemented.”
The IPMI view is that these guidelines have been breached, because the
current proposals arise from a review that did not have a remit to consider
professional leadership.
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