Profession has to work together for the future, President tells AGM
The President: Society is in the spotlight |
The pharmaceutical profession needs to work together to face the challenges
introduced by the Government’s “Trust, assurance and safety” White
Paper, the President, Hemant Patel, told the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's
166th annual
general meeting on 16 May. He called on the profession to show innovation, ambition, strength and confidence.
The President said: “All in all, the Society has enjoyed a particularly
busy year — a year in which we have concentrated on preparing for
the challenges that lie ahead. Our profession has been in the public
focus more perhaps than ever before, and the Society has responded to
ensure that the outcome takes our members’ interests and public
safety
fully into account. The changes that began during 2006 continue to make
themselves felt during 2007. On behalf of its members, the Society is
successfully adapting to them and embracing the opportunities they bring.
He added that the changes proposed in the White Paper are the biggest
challenges facing the profession for over 160 years. The Society believes
that the formation of a “body akin to a royal college” and
a General Pharmaceutical Council will bring lasting benefits to professionals,
to government and to the public. “The Society wants the profession
to be innovative, ambitious, strong and confident. To achieve its wishes
the profession would need robust and appropriate support structures at
local and national level. To achieve these changes we need to work together
on the challenges that we face in the future.”
Earlier, opening his address, the President said: “These are changing
and challenging times for pharmacy but I genuinely believe that there
has never been a more invigorating, inspiring and fast-moving period
for the profession. Pharmacists play an increasing role in today’s
multidisciplinary health care team. More than ever before, they are being
recognised for their clinical skills as well as for their expert knowledge
of medicines. It is one of the Society’s major roles to ensure
that our members are as well placed as possible to seize the opportunities
now available to them and to help them adapt to, and embrace, this change.”
He added that it was the strength of the Society’s heritage that
had given it such a firm foundation on which to build for the future.
The President then went on to summarise some of the Society’s main
activities during 2006. Among these were the launch of Pharmacy 2020,
the creation of the national pharmacy boards, the Society’s work
to influence the content of the Pharmacists
and Pharmacy Technicians Order 2007, its preparation for mandatory continuing
professional development, the launch of a new strategy on patient and
public involvement in the Society, the revision of the Code of Ethics,
the third pharmacy workforce census and consultation on the Society’s
education review.
A common theme of the Society’s work was the length to which it
went to ensure that members could make their views known and help shape
the future of the profession. The Society was also proud of the measures
it took to anticipate and provide the support its members needed to help
them in their work and careers.
The spotlight was shining brightly on the profession, as members responded
to the greater opportunities arising from independent prescribing status.
The media had quickly picked up on this latest development in public
health care and it was vital for the Society and its members to demonstrate
that patient safety was at the heart of all they did.
The Society was keen to remain in the spotlight and to continue making
its voice heard by the UK governments and by the European Union whenever
their agendas include a subject that could affect the profession and
its members. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal