The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7189 pp379
16 March 2002

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The project director for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's modernisation programme, Philip Green (Deputy Secretary and Professional Development Director) explains that building the future requires a grasp of the foundations on which one is building

Losing what we never really had

Over the past weeks, members of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Council and staff have met a number of groups of pharmacists to talk about the Society's modernisation programme. Significantly, much of the discussion has focused on what the Society is (and is not) today, as well as on its future remit and functions. It has become clear that we need an understanding of our starting point to help us to map the way ahead.

Perhaps it is not surprising that pharmacists and others do not have a clear picture of what the Society does and what it can or cannot do. As an organisation, the Society has not always been good at communicating this in a consistent way.

Most of the debate has centred on the words "membership" and "represent". When Council members and staff have been asked, "Is the Society a membership organisation?" or "Does the Society represent pharmacists?" it has been both easy and honest to answer "Yes". What we have not always done is to explain what these terms mean when applied to the Society. As a result, many different interpretations have been placed on what these words mean. Now that we are seeking to set out the starting point for the Society's modernisation programme, many pharmacists are, as one member put it, feeling "the loss of something we didn't really have".

We should not need to question whether the Society is a membership organisation. We do need to understand what sort of membership organisation the Society can and should be. Membership of the Society is synonymous with being on the professional register. It assures the public that members are in good standing and gives pharmacists the right to practise.

The Society's register is not just a bureaucratic listing process: it is a living contract between pharmacists and society as a whole. To support this contract, the Society seeks to lead and develop the profession, providing a local network so that pharmacists can share ideas and learning with their peers. The Society also provides benevolent support to pharmacists and their families in times of need.

Unlike some other membership organisations, the Society is not a club that members join to enjoy a range of goods or services, nor is it a business in which members hold shares. The Society cannot undertake trade union functions such as negotiations on remuneration or terms and conditions of employment, unlike bodies such as the British Medical Association or the Royal College of Nursing, which are trades unions.

In 1921, the High Court was asked to rule on a question relating to the Society's powers. This came about because a member challenged the power of the Society to become involved in a trade council. The judgement — in what became known as the Jenkin case — made it clear that the Society can promote the profession as a whole but cannot become involved in pharmacists' individual or commercial interests.

Nevertheless, the Society has an important representative role. The Society has always promoted the profession's contribution to health care and has made representations whenever policy or other factors have threatened pharmacy's ability to deliver a safe and effective quality service. This helps to influence the climate in which policy affecting the profession is made and implemented.

One important example is the influence that the Society's "Building the future" strategy has had on the national pharmacy strategies in England and Scotland — "Pharmacy in the future" and "The right medicine", respectively. This work is more effective because government and others know that the Society's views come from a body committed to promoting the practice of pharmacy is in the public interest. The Society has no plans to stop representing the profession in this way; indeed it is building a credible and significant reputation as the voice of the pharmacy profession.