Response to Clarke report is generally favourable
Catherine Duggan |
Initial responses from pharmacy groups to the Clarke
Inquiry’s report into a future professional body for pharmacy, although positive, have highlighted concerns over how the proposed changes will be put into effect.
Catherine Duggan, United Kingdom Clinical Pharmacy Association chairman
and Royal Pharmaceutical Society Council election candidate, said that
the purpose, focus and function for a new professional body set out by
Nigel Clarke in his report were ambitious and laudable.
“The UKCPA
would be interested in taking a lead on the committee of specialist interest
groups with others to ensure these aims are achieved,” she said.
However, she believes that the structural changes and practical implications
recommended in the report do not fully support the inquiry’s vision
for a new organisation.
“These tend to focus on retaining much of the status quo and retaining
the existing sectors and groupings: a risk when taking soundings from
the profession rather than considering the functions of a radical new
body,” she stated.
She added that opportunities for pharmacy arising
from last week’s White
Paper (see p423) would require barriers
between sectors and groups within the profession to be broken down.
“We need a new organisation that takes the best of all our groups
and specialisms,” Dr Duggan said. “If we are not brave enough
now, we could end up with something very similar to what we currently
have, rather than a body that is fit for purpose and that provides true
and effective leadership.”
Dr Duggan also believes the Society’s name needs to change: “Calling
the leadership body a royal college would allow us to retain what is
good about the current Society and also fully incorporate the good work
of other organisations. This would provide the change we need to move
forward and reassure some within the profession that this is real change
rather than a rebadging exercise for the sake of change.”
Speaking for the Institute for Pharmacy Management International, general
secretary Howard McNulty said: “Implementation of the Clarke report
in an 18-month timescale will be a major challenge for the many different
groups to put flesh on the skeleton outlined in the proposals. The IPMI
looks forward to working with the Society and others to help meet this
challenge.”
Nevertheless, he said the report’s recommendation that offering
management advice be considered by the professional body “does
not fully cover the role we envisaged or submitted in our evidence”.
The IPMI, he explained, sees the need for the professional body to develop
pharmacy managerial standards and qualifications, as well as providing
access to education, training and continuing professional development
support to meet management competencies.
The College of Pharmacy Practice has confirmed that the recommendations
are broadly in line with its views: “We are particularly pleased
with the recommendation that a transitional committee should be established
to oversee preparation for the new professional body and we look forward
to working with colleagues from the Society and other organisations on
this.”
The Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK welcomed the report’s
recommendation that the new professional body should embrace the whole “pharmacy
family”, including registered pharmacy technicians, and the British
Oncology Pharmacy Association was pleased to see a committee of special
interest groups among the inquiry’s suggestions.
The UKCPA, IPMI, CPP, BOPA and APTUK were among the organisations that
supported the “Waterloo
agreement” — a consensus statement
on joint working towards a new professional body — in March 2007
(PJ,
31 March 2007, p357). The organisations plan to meet again on 14 April
2008.
News feature p432 |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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