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Letters to the Editor
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New professional body
Society must comply with its gender
equality duty
From Mrs H. J. Baker, MRPharmS
At the annual general
meeting on 21 May (2008), it was explained that
the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Council will remain as the decision-making
body to which the new Transitional Committee (Transcom) will make recommendations.
Our association has been concerned that, in contrast with other healthcare
regulators, the Society remains non-compliant with the gender equality duty
(GED), which came into force in April 2007.
We are glad to have received assurances from the Chief Executive that Transcom
and the Council will be acquainted with their obligations under the GED.
In
our experience, however, not only do most groups within the profession know
little about the duty, most practising pharmacists know little about their
GED obligations as employees, or contractors to the NHS.
There are two critical reasons why everyone working to create the new body
must ensure they operate in accordance with the duty. First, if the body
wants mass membership, it must match its structures and policies to the nature
of
the pharmacy workforce. The Society has considerable information at its disposal
about registration, work patterns and salaries, and it must make proper use
of this knowledge.
Second, if the GED is not properly observed, any group in the profession
that is unhappy about the outcome of deliberations will have strong grounds
for
seeking judicial review of the decisions reached. This option is specified
in the guidance documents linked to implementation.
Compliance with GED obligations is not a luxury or something that can be
added on later. Requirements in England include: • The duty to assess the impact of current and proposed policies and
practices on gender equality
• The need to include objectives to address the causes of any gender pay gap
when formulating overall objectives
• The need to consult stakeholders (including employees, service users, trade
unions and others) and take account of relevant information in order to determine
gender equality
Furthermore, it must be possible to show how all these duties have been
met.
We find it strange that other professional bodies (including many not required
to comply with the GED) see this as an obvious mainstream issue, while it seems
to have been almost ignored within pharmacy.
If the new body is to be truly
focused on the needs of its members, things will need to change. Hazel Baker
President, National Association of Women Pharmacists
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal