Agenda for Change Pre-reg profile: The pre-registration graduate profile has been sent to another group dealing with hard to agree profiles. JEWP have told the EIs to use Annex U to deal with the situation, but this has been disputed as nonsensical, as it would mean that pre-regs would be paid more than newly qualified staff! As the workforce confederations do not know the costs, the number of pre-reg places cannot be predicted. This raises the possibility of another "fallow year".
Pensions A press statement has been agreed and will be issued shortly. Concern was raised that although the early retirement flexibility may sound good, there is no evidence that the NHS has the ability to deal with this sort of issue. Current conditions within the service mean a lot of people would like to go early.
GHP Council reorganisation The meeting was addressed by Mark Jones, Director of the CPHVA and newly appointed National Officer for Professional Policy and Practice, on the topic of reorganising the professional structures within Amicus. This will have implications for Guild Council and also for the membership as a whole. Discussions are at an early stage and a significant amount of work has still to be done. Amicus has requested that the Council elections and Annual General Meeting are postponed until later in the year, by which time it is hoped this will have been resolved. It is therefore planned to use the time allocated in the ANC programme for the AGM to discuss the matter with members. A pres statement to this effect will be posted on the websites.
RPSGB election Members are encouraged to stand for election to the Council of the RPSGB.
"Making the Best Use of the Pharmacy Workforce" Consultation I have received a copy of this document and would appreciate any comments you may have. It can be found here.
There are some important legal changes being proposed in the document such as relaxation of the supervision and control. Although primarily aimed at community pharmacy, there is the potential for destabilising hospital pharmacy since the only source of checking technicians is currently the hospital service.
ANC 2005: Glasgow Moat House Hotel, April 15-17 2005 Each member should have received an application form for this joint event with UKCPA.
National Occupational Standards for pharmacy Some disquiet about the process of producing these was reported. Skills for Health have commissioned RPSGB to produce these, and they in turn have brought in consultants. It is important that such standards are produced properly, as they will affect undergraduate, pre-registration and post-registration training and accreditation. They may also influence the course that the NHS is willing to fund in the future. A request was made for job descriptions for ALL pharmacy staff to be sent to Sue Ambler at the RPSGB as soon as possible.
Healthcare Commission In the open session of the meeting, Council and representatives from the partner organisations were treated to a presentation by Gillian Arr-Jones on the future role of the Healthcare Commission.
Independent Prescribing A discussion thread on the GHP forum has been set up to obtain information from members on situations where the legislation is being stretched by current practice.
Shipman Report GHP has been asked to nominate a person to join an advisory group on the safer management of medicines being set up in the wake of the Shipman Enquiry reports. Vilma Gilis has volunteered.
Hazardous Waste Professional Secretary Jean Curtis reported that she had been assured by DEFRA that only cytotoxic drugs were to be classified as hazardous in the 2005 regulations - not all medicines as was feared.
Clinical Trials Consultation Another draft of the paper is to be produced. My thanks to those colleagues who responded to my request for comments. They were appreciated by the authors of the paper.
Colin Rodden 18.2.04