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Letters to the Editor
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The Society
Reached a position of financial stability
From Mr A. C. Gush, MRPharmS
I am writing to update members of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
on the progress of issues raised as important through letters to The
Pharmaceutical
Journal during last year’s fees consultations.
My colleagues and I have addressed these issues and I am now in a position
to give a positive response. In particular:
• The Council has agreed the introduction of staged payments for 2009
and has also agreed
in principle to consult members about the possibility of offering reduced
fees for people on low incomes. This builds on to the support given to
preregistration students
and non-practising members last year.
• The fees-setting process for 2009 is well under way and I am confident
that the recommendations presented to the Council this year will be accepted
by members as both fair and proportionate. This reflects the high degree
of scrutiny in the budgeting process where expenditure and costs are
being examined in terms of necessity, real value and relevance to members
in these times of great change.
We engaged with the members last year to explain the Society’s
financial position and I am pleased to report that now the situation
is improving. We have reached a position of financial stability and are
confident this can be sustained, which is especially important as we
continue towards demerger.
We made a commitment to secure more funding to cover the transitional
costs for the creation of the new regulator and through working closely
and co-operatively with the Department of Health an additional £2million
of funding to support this has been secured so far.
We have invested in key areas, particularly our communications and public
affairs activities, to respond to calls from the membership for a greater
media and political influence.
The Society has ensured that pharmacy’s voice has been heard across
the national and regional media throughout 2008 on subjects including
internet pharmacy, prescription charges, cannabis as a medicine, polyclinics,
hay fever and the recent pharmacy White Paper in England.
In public affairs we will soon be launching a new publication for parliamentarians
and are planning a high profile pharmacy event at Westminster. We know
advocacy is important to our members so investments that increase awareness
of the pharmacist’s crucial role in healthcare will remain a priority.
Also, preparing for the creation of the new professional body has been
an important area of investment. Activities such as funding the independent
Clarke Inquiry and surveying some 4,000 members as the latest stage of
our research are prime examples of how we are working to ensure that
the new professional body offers the most attractive benefits to the
profession. We are still confident that the costs of membership of this
new professional body will not be a barrier to participation.
I said when I was appointed Treasurer that I wanted to put the Society
on a firmer financial footing — recognising that the decisions
to be taken were unpopular, but necessary. I also committed to continue
listening, and being open and transparent. I hope that this update helps
shape the current position for members and offers some early indicators
of where their investment has already made a difference.
Andrew Gush
Treasurer
Royal Pharmaceutical Society |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal