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As both a regulator and the professional body for pharmacy, the Royal
Pharmaceutical Society has always been unique. This dual role has been
both a strength and a weakness but, with the advent of the Government’s
White Paper recommending the separation of the regulatory function, this
paradox is to go.
The current question facing members and the Council
is: what are we going to be left with? There have been numerous suggestions
about royal colleges, representation and trade unions.
Most pharmacists associate the Society with inspectors, inspections,
finger-wagging and (God forbid) the Statutory Committee. So most members
do not have warm and generous feelings towards our parent body. In
fact, many members have little idea of what goes on at 1 Lambeth High
Street.
The profession has always been fragmented and this has, undoubtedly,
made it less effective in driving itself forward and influencing policy
at governmental level. Governments have been able to use these weaknesses
to divide and frustrate the ambitions of pharmacy. How to get to pharmacists
With the removal of regulation the profession can view the new body
without the fear of inspection and discipline. It is essential that the
new
body represents everyone and that it cannot and must not be fragmented
and thus find itself split by the various Government departments, national,
health and financial.
It is also vital that the new body is free of the influence of previous
Councils and their systems of working, which come with baggage, perceptions — some
deserved and some not — cumbersome ways and a track record of self
interest. All this must be parked and the new body must start with a
clean slate.
It is important to recognise that the success of the new body depends
on offering pharmacists something that is sufficiently attractive to
make them want to pay a fee over and above their retention fee. To expect
any number to sign up initially when the new body has no track record
is unrealistic. There maybe a few hundred who are prepared to pay through
a sense of loyalty but, until pharmacists can see clear benefit, some
other strategy must be used to help get the new body up and running.
The only obvious way to get to pharmacists and to develop a track record
is by getting pharmacy groups involved and getting them to use the new
body’s facilities and services. This may not be ideal but there
is a need to be pragmatic if this new body is to flourish.
So what will this new body look like? Royal colleges are made on the
back of reputation for excellence and scholarship. They are focused on
various areas of practice, such as general practice or surgery. There
is, however, only room for one new body for pharmacy. Who is it going
to represent? It has to be everyone involved with pharmacy, including
pharmaceutical scientists.
There are those who believe that the new body must be for pharmacists
only. This narrow approach will not help anyone. Pharmaceutical science
is the jewel in the pharmacy’s crown. For a newly formed organisation,
seeking excellence and reputation, not to include all pharmaceutical
scientists would be folly indeed. What is needed is a body that has something
for everyone, and this is a tall order.
Moreover, the one thing all of pharmacy needs is strong leadership. The
new body must represent leadership. It is the one thing missing everywhere
in pharmacy. We may have some natural leaders but what do we do to nurture
and support them? Leadership comes in many guises — professional
leadership, political leadership and clinical leadership, for example — and
all these options need to be nurtured and developed. The profession will
be much stronger for harnessing and developing the talent we have. What the new body could do
The new body must recognise that special
interest groups are not going to give up their hard earned powers,
monies or spheres of
influence; nor are they going to be subsumed into another body, and
they are only going
to pay fees if there is something in it for them.
However, they all want and all need access to excellence in leadership,
management, change management and negotiation skills. The new body
could offer, and support, special interest groups with these, and the
profession
would be much better for it.
Let us take an example. Hospital pharmacists have little in common
with community pharmacists so trying to represent one group will alienate
the other. They are far better at representing themselves in matters
of money and, indeed, practice. Pure representation is not really possible
when the factions are so broad and diverse.
The new body has to be formed from people with vision: those able to
think out of the box, and those who can let go of old values and grasp
the enormous opportunities that are just waiting to be seized. Tiered membership
So how do we get the people who will lead the new body? Those organisations
that are fully committed to the concept could pay a full fee and
be able to send a representative to the top table. Those organisations
that do not want to join could have limited access to the new body.
So, for organisations, the first stage could be a facilitating level
without a fee, or a minimal fee. The next stage could be access to
courses for a larger fee. The final and full fee would be for access
to courses
and lobbying and policy development and a place at the top table.
Individuals could join at two levels. The minimum could give them access
to The Pharmaceutical Journal and information facilities. On the second
level a maximum fee would give them access to the top table via the
ballot box.
It is essential that the new body cannot be overrun by one particular
group or section and that self-interest does not prevail.
The new body could: • Offer courses in leadership, negotiating skills and management change
• Tender for the examinations laid down by the General Pharmaceutical
Council (However, because winning the contract cannot be guaranteed,
whatever else it offers must be enough to sustain the body without
this extra work.)
• Offer its leadership services to other health professionals
• Offer support to pharmaceutical sciences
• Develop and formalise an extensive database for the whole profession
This plan would allow the publications department (a world leader in
its field) to sit inside the organisation. The Society also has a good
track record in pharmacy practice research and this can be continued
and could provide one of the cornerstones for providing the much needed
excellence to justify the new body.
If the new body is prepared to act as a facilitator and navigator for
all interested bodies then it can become the conduit to excellence for
everyone.
If, within eight to 10 years, the new body has got its act together and
is delivering, then no self respecting pharmacist will want not to be
part of it. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal