The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7181 pp74-75
19 January 2002
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The Society's modernisation programme >
How the Society got where it is today
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The Pharmaceutical Journal |
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The Society's modernisation programme > |
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In the first of a series of articles on the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's modernisation programme, the programme's project manager, Christine Gray, looks back into the Society's history to establish a starting position for the programme and answer the question "How did we arrive at this point?" |
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Charter |
How the Society got where it is today The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is governed by a framework comprising its Charter, legislation and byelaws. As the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, the Society was formed in April 1841 by a group of leading chemists and druggists. At that time, its aims were to unite the profession into one body, to protect its members' interests and to advance scientific knowledge. Representatives of the Society's Council met the Home Secretary in December 1841 and discussed the Society's intention to apply for a royal charter. The Council's deputation explained that it would apply when it was: ... in a position to
prove, by an appeal to facts, that the measures that they proposed to
carry out, in reference to their body, were calculated to promote the
public welfare, and that, in granting a charter to the Society, her Majesty
would benefit the community at large, no less than the parties to whom
it was granted. The leading object of the Society being to regulate the
education and ensure the competence of those who compound medicines, it
was contended that as soon as it could be shown that the means adopted
were calculated to attain the end in view, the Council might, on public
grounds, petition for the sanction and protection of her Majesty and the
Government. The Society was incorporated by royal charter in 1843. The effect of incorporation, legally, was to give the Society many of the attributes of a living person, irrespective of changes in the membership of the Society or its Council. As a chartered body, the Society can only be dissolved by the legal process of surrendering the Charter and its constitution cannot be varied except by supplementary charter or by legislation. Supplementary charters were granted in 1901, 1948 and 1953. Statutory membership of the Society, which had previously been a voluntary body, came about as a result of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act 1933. The Statutory Committee was then formed. The first ever appeal against one of its decisions was dismissed by the Lord Chief Justice Viscount Caldicote, who said: "The Act of 1933 was intended to elevate [pharmacy] into the status of a profession." By 1941, various changes had been effected in the provisions of the charter by Acts of Parliament: • The objects, powers and duties of the Society included the appointment of a registrar, required to keep registers of pharmaceutical chemists and of premises, and the enforcement of parts of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act 1933 and the Pharmacy and Medicines Act 1941 • Membership of the Society was dependent upon whether a person had passed a qualifying examination and been admitted to a statutory register • The power to remove members from the Society was exercised by a Statutory Committee, chaired by a Privy Council appointee • Three lay members had joined the Council, appointed by the Privy Council • Byelaws required the approval of the Privy Council The 1843 Charter was revoked by the Supplemental Charter of 1953 except in so far as it incorporated the Society and authorised it to have a common seal and to sue and be sued. The Supplemental Charter gives the Council powers to make byelaws (subject to notice being given to members and approval by the Privy Council). Parts of the 1953 Charter have since been overlaid by statute, eg, those relating to powers to make byelaws and to provide relief for distressed persons can now be found in the Pharmacy Act 1954. No byelaw may exceed the powers laid down in the Charter or the Pharmacy Acts or otherwise conflict with the laws of the land. The 1953 Supplemental Charter sets out the main objects of the Society as: • To advance chemistry and pharmacy • To promote pharmaceutical education and the application of pharmaceutical knowledge • To maintain the honour and safeguard and promote the interests of the members in their exercise of the profession of pharmacy • To provide relief for distressed persons [members, former members, dependants of deceased members, and students] The Society's chartered objects constitute limits within which the Society may, but need not necessarily, function. The statutory powers and duties, however, must be exercised or performed by the Society. One of the principal statutory duties is that the Council must appoint a "fit and proper person" as registrar (Pharmacy Act 1954). It is the duty of the registrar to maintain the Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists under the Pharmacy Act 1954 and the Register of Premises (pharmacies) under the Medicines Act 1968. The Society also has law enforcement duties under various sections of the Medicines Act 1968, the Animal Health and Welfare Act 1984 and the Poisons Act 1972. The other major statutory power conferred upon the Society relates to the exercise of professional discipline through the Statutory Committee. The extent of the Society's powers under its Charter and its powers and duties under the Pharmacy Acts have been considered by the High Court in Jenkin v Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (1921) and by the House of Lords in Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Dickson (1968). Jenkin case The Society's 1843 Charter had as one of its objects "the protection of those who carry on the business of chemists and druggists". In 1919, the Society's Council took part in promoting an industrial council for the drug trade, which was intended to regulate wages, hours and working conditions, and production and employment. Mr Jenkin, a member of the Society, sought a high court injunction to prevent the Society from sponsoring the industrial council on the grounds that the proposed functions were not within the Society's powers. The court declared that the proposed involvement in the industrial council was not within the power or purposes of the Society, nor could the Society • regulate the hours of business of members • regulate the wages and conditions of employment between masters and their employees who were members • regulate the prices at which members should sell their goods • insure and effect insurance of members. As a result of this decision, the Retail Pharmacists Union (now the National Pharmaceutical Association) was established to carry out various functions including those which the courts had ruled to be outside the Society's chartered objects. Dickson case In 1963, the Council adopted a report stating that it was undesirable for non-professional business to predominate in a pharmacy and that the extension of this kind of business in pharmacies should be controlled. An attempt to incorporate this principle into a Statement upon Matters of Professional Conduct was challenged and led to the Dickson case. During this case, the Society was unable to satisfy the courts on the evidence presented that the professional aspect of a pharmacy business was adversely affected by other activities. As it was not shown that the public suffered any harm, the proposed restraints were held to be unjustified. It was made plain that the Society could make rules affecting the non-professional as well as the professional activities of pharmacists but only if the rules could be shown to be in the interest of the public and the profession. Under the Medicines Act 1968, the Society is responsible for the maintenance of the Register of Pharmacy Premises and for disciplinary control over bodies corporate and representatives of pharmacists carrying on retail pharmacy businesses. The procedures for disciplinary hearings are set out in the Pharmaceutical Society (Statutory Committee) Order in Council 1978. (In 1988, the Queen agreed that the title "Royal" should be granted to the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.) Pharmacists (Fitness to Practise) Act 1997 The Pharmacists (Fitness to Practise) Act 1997 gave the Society powers to consider pharmacists who appear unable to practise competently due to physical or mental health problems and to impose conditions on, or suspend from registration, those pharmacists whose ability to practise it finds seriously impaired. This Act amends the Pharmacy Act 1954. It is expected that regulations under this Act will be implemented in 2002. Health Act 1999 The Health Act 1999 introduced a "duty of quality" on National Health Service trusts, primary care trusts and health authorities and established the Commission for Health Improvement to oversee putting that duty into practice through clinical governance. It also gave the Secretary of State new order-making powers in respect of professional self-regulation (Section 60 Orders). The Society issued a consultation document in autumn 2000, setting out proposals for reform of disciplinary procedures. These proposals have now been passed to the Department of Health and it is hoped that they will form the basis of a Section 60 Order under the Health Act. NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill The NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill is currently progressing through Parliament. It provides for change in two of the areas covered in the report of the Bristol Royal Infirmary inquiry — the role of the CHI and the regulation of health care professions. The Bill provides for the creation of a Council for the Regulation of Health Care Professionals to oversee the activities of the regulatory bodies for health professions. It provides for the CRHP to co-ordinate aspects of the regulatory bodies' work and for it to encourage the bodies to act explicitly in the interests of patients. The Bill requires regulatory bodies to co-operate with the CRHP in the exercise of their functions. The CRHP may, if it deems it desirable for the protection of the public, direct a regulatory body to make rules to achieve a specified effect. The CRHP is a UK-wide body: both the Society and the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI) will come within its remit. The Bill recognises that both the Society and the PSNI have regulatory and professional roles and that the CRHP's remit will only cover the regulatory functions. The Society is unique in that it combines its functions as a regulator with those of a professional body and with its statutory enforcement role. This combination of functions has evolved over the past 160 years, generating debate at various times about the balance between the Society's roles and the interests governing its decisions and actions. The Society is alone among the health regulators in Britain in that its registrants are also its members. The Society was formed originally to, among other things, protect the interests of its members. At that time, membership of the Society was not linked to professional registration. However, within eight months of its formation, the Society's Council was stating that its leading object was to regulate education and ensure competence, hence the Society believed it was able to petition for a royal charter on the grounds of promoting public welfare. It seems that the aims of public protection and professional leadership have co-existed within the Society almost from its inception. It has been clear since 1921, following the Jenkin case, that the Society could only promote the profession as a whole and could not act in the interests of individual pharmacists. The Society's functions in advancing the profession derive from its Charter. Both these and the regulatory functions are crucial to ensuring that the public and other health professionals retain confidence in pharmacy and that pharmacists' skills are kept up to date. Perhaps the greatest shift in the balance of the Society's functions and interests came when it first took on the powers and duties of a statutory registering body as a result of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act 1933. Before then, there had been debate about retaining the Society as a voluntary body and creating a pharmacy board to take over the Society's roles in registration, education and discipline. Since membership became statutory, the Society has continued to regulate the profession and to promote its development, alongside carrying out its statutory enforcement duties. However, when any conflict seemed likely between the interests of the public and the profession, the Society's regulatory and statutory responsibilities meant that in resolving such conflicts, it would put the public interest first. This balance has continued to the present day. The link between the Society as an organisation and its members differs from that which exists between other health professionals and their self-regulation body. It is important to the Society's professional development functions that we retain that link. However, the statutory basis of Society membership means that this relationship also differs from that between a membership organisation such as the British Medical Association and its members, because the Society confers on its members the privileges, rights and the responsibilities of a health care professional. It is vital both for the public and for the long-term future of the profession that the Society demonstrates a continued commitment to serving the public interest. The changing climate for the regulation of health professionals means that the Society faces new challenges to ensure that it can continue to exercise its responsibilities to the public and the profession. The wide range of issues that need to be addressed includes: • What should be the future remit and functions of the Society? • What should be the composition of the Society's Council? • How should our regulatory functions be modernised? • What changes may be needed to the framework of Charter, legislation and byelaws? • What governance arrangements should be in place? • What committee structures are needed? These questions will be among the priorities for the Society's modernisation programme.
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