Annual General Meeting It was announced that the following National Members had been elected in the recent election
Special Council Meeting This meeting always takes place after the AGM and elects the various Council office bearers. In a major reshuffle of Council, the meeting elected
Council Meeting
EAHP Journal EAHP have changed the publisher of their journal, which will now be published in three languages. As they will be distributing the journal themselves, rather than through the affiliated organisations in each member country, the GHP mailing list has been sent to them. Assurances have been received that the list will only be used for the purposes of distributing the journal and it was noted that European legislation covering this area is stricter than UK legislation. It was noted that Ron Pate is on the editorial board of the new journal.
Annual National Conference 2002 Held in the Palace Hotel, Manchester. Evelyn Button, the last female Guild president before Helen Remington, had been invited to attend as a guest of the President but was unable to be there. It was agreed to send flowers to the 90 year old ex-president.
Annual National Conference 2003 Discussions were taking place as to whether the Conference would be held in Cheltenham or Bristol. Cheltenham was the preferred option but there were problems in finding a suitable venue.
GHP Effectiveness of Hospital Pharmacy Report It was noted that delays in producing the CD-ROM of the report meant that it would not be included in the Annual National Conference delegate pack. Instead, it was to be mailed out later to all delegates. There was some discussion as to who/where else it should be sent. It was agreed that it should be sent to each of the Chief Pharmacists and Health Ministers of the home countries as well as each pharmacy department and some pharmacy organisations. Prior to the presentation at the Annual National Conference, a presentation on the report was made to Council and is precised below
Policy Statements It was noted that four joint GHP/Association of Pharmacy Technicians statements are currently in the process of being drafted. These are -
GHP Responses Responses on the following documents had been made by GHP
Pay Agreement 2002/3 A question was raised about when pharmacists on D or H grade would move on to the new point on their scale.
Agenda For Change The recent meeting on skills and gateways for Agenda For Change did not, apparently, inspire confidence in GHP attendees. Competencies had yet to be discussed properly; the surface had only been scratched. In addition, some significant pharmacist and technician posts had not been assessed. Although there were four or five ATO grades benchmarked, there were no MTO1, MTO2 or MTO3 pharmacy technicians or Grade D pharmacists. Even the single Grade C pharmacist was a residency post! Representations were to be made once a list of missing pharmacist posts were identified. To aid this process, I am looking for details of specialist C and D grade pharmacists to forward to the Chair of Pharmaceutical Whitley Council by 19th April 2002.
There was also still the question of funding. It appears that required funding levels may be available this month. N.B. this is not the funding but the costing of what will be required. The DoH are looking for agreement on the whole package by September. Subsequently, there will be a consultation exercise with members. The preferred option for Amicus would appear to be workplace ballots as they are cheaper and have a greater response rate. If the package is agreed, it is proposed to have a one-day special NHS National Advisory Committee meeting in September. The main implementation is likely to be in 2004, with early implementers only in England.
GHP / Baxter Healthcare Medication Delivery Award 2002 It was agreed to extend the closing date of this award until 31st May 2002 due to the various problems experienced in publicising it.
GHP Administrator It was noted that the services of a dedicated administrator had been offered to the GHP. No further details are available at the moment but will be announced when the agreement has been finalised.
Colin Rodden 16.4.02