Arising out of the Pharmacy in a New Age programme, a decision was taken to modernise the Society’s head office structure and ways of working to enable the Council and staff to work together more effectively.

As part of the modernisation, the Council redefined its role so as to focus on strategic planning and policy formulation, which the standing committees and staff across the directorates take forward. A policy support unit was also formed to help the Council identify and analyse key issues that need to be tackled, while keeping an eye on the future.

Since 1998, most of the Society’s 270 staff have been organised within five directorates. The policy support unit, the Statutory Committee and The Pharmaceutical Journal group of publications are outside this structure, as are the offices in Edinburgh and Cardiff that support the work of the Scottish and Welsh Executives in taking forward the Society’s policy in Scotland and Wales.

Directorate staff, including some 80 pharmacists, work within specialty areas such as pharmacy law, education, practice, drug information, research, public relations, information technology or publishing. They work with standing committees to implement the Council’s policy in the areas of science, education, practice and law and ethics. They provide a service to the structures through which the regulatory and disciplinary work is undertaken. They also support the increasingly multidisciplinary working groups that take forward particular developments, such as pharmacist prescribing, or work to modernise the profession’s ethical and constitutional frameworks.

Other standing committees of the Council oversee management of the British Pharmaceutical Conference, the adjudication of overseas students’ qualifications, remuneration and organisational audit.

The President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Immediate Past President (the Officers), the chairmen of the Scottish and Welsh Executives, the main standing committee chairmen, staff directors and the Secretary and Registrar work together through a committee that makes proposals for the management of the organisation’s resources.

With the new head office structure has come a recognition that, to maximise effectiveness, projects to implement policy benefit from being multidisciplinary, drawing in key people from across the directorates as well as relevant external expertise. Developing and implementing this approach is one of the challenges being tackled by the Executive Group, made up of the directors and headed by the Secretary and Registrar.

Some underpinning functions operate across the directorate structure. For example, the organisation’s IT needs and the profession’s information management and technology strategy are supported by a strategy group and an IT team that work with all the directorates. Other staff provide support for the organisation through services such as finance, human resources and audiovisual services. Office facilities and house management staff have an important role to play in the smooth running of the building.

Professional standards The Professional Standards Directorate is responsible for many of the Society’s statutory and regulatory functions. Staff who work in this directorate maintain the registers of pharmacists and pharmacy premises. The code of ethics and professional guidance is constantly reviewed to meet the challenges of practising in a changing environment.

A team of inspectors works in the field with the profession offering guidance on and ensuring compliance with legal requirements and professional standards.

The professional standards team provides a telephone service for members in need of legal and ethical advice.

Professional development The Professional Development Directorate co-ordinates the education and practice components of the Society’s work together with practice research, audit, clinical governance and the “modernisation” agenda.

The Society has a statutory role in the accreditation of the pharmacy component of undergraduate courses in Britain’s schools of pharmacy. It shapes and supports preregistration training and the registration examination, and it supports lifelong learning and continuing professional development for pharmacists.

The chief scientist, working closely with the Society’s science team, is the Society’s external spokesperson on all scientific matters and advises the Council on scientific issues.

The Society fosters close links with the Commonwealth through its administration of the Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Association. It works with other bodies to promote the development of pharmacy and its contribution to health in Europe.

The Pharmacy Healthcare Scheme, a separate health promotion organisation with charitable status, is administered through this directorate.

Public affairs The Society sets great store by its membership network, supported through the Public Affairs Directorate. Every year, branches send representatives to the headquarters building to debate issues of the day and members are encouraged to attend the annual general meeting.

The library has a wealth of specialist books, periodicals and databases; the technical information service answers some 14,000 queries a year. The Society has a museum to preserve and promote pharmacy’s heritage.

The British Pharmaceutical Conference, held annually for those involved in pharmacy practice and science, draws as many as 1,000 participants from all over the world.

The directorate runs a programme of scientific support, including awards, lectures and meetings as well as awareness building across the pharmaceutical sciences.

The Society works to put pharmacy in the spotlight, promoting good relations with the public and media through a press office and other public relations work, with the help of a network of local pharmacist public relations officers. External relations, particularly with Parliament and government are co-ordinated to ensure that pharmacy’s voice is heard where it matters.

Publications The Publications Directorate is responsible for the Society’s highly successful Pharmaceutical Press. A developing catalogue of scientific journals, books and electronic publications is produced by in-house authors and external contributors.

The British National Formulary, jointly published with the British Medical Association, is produced in print and electronic formats by Society staff. Martindale: the Complete Drug Reference, is a source of drug information used to support pharmacy practice around the world.