Council Meeting 25/9/03 Sue Carter, a new National Member, was welcomed to her first Council meeting.
The meeting stood for a minutes silence in memory of Evelyn Button, first lady President of the Guild of Public Pharmacists (as GHP was then).
Presidents Report The President reported that he had attended a number of very positive meetings. It was noted that the Annual General Meeting would take place before the end of the year. It would be linked with a Day Conference on Agenda For Change (AfC) issues and venue and agenda for the day would be circulated shortly.
Terms and Conditions Committee It had been agreed at the Terms and Conditions Committee (TCC) that several publications would be prepared for distribution to members - An AfC implementation guide Guide for GHP reps on AfC Statement on the implications of AfC for staffing in departments and issues on out-of-hours and part-time staff. A press release on Foundation Hospitals Emergency Duty Commitment vs on-call.
NHSP Specialist Pay Research Pharmacists Survey Apparently, NHSP (previously NHS Personnel) are a training agency and provide advice and consultation to subscribers. This is a self-commissioned survey. Twice a year they carry out an in-depth survey on a particular profession and it was coincidence that this year it was pharmacy. The intention was that this questionnaire would be completed by Chief Pharmacists, although this was not explicit in the document and it was sent to HR Directors. We have concerns that the data collected will be quite incomplete, especially if only subscribers have been sent the document. In addition, having the NHSP logo on it might give it considerably more credibility than it deserves.
www.ghp.org.uk The www.ghp.org.uk website now has details of consultation papers. It was noted that members can now input directly into these consultations via the members pages on the site. Work is currently ongoing on some best practice guidance; unlicensed medicines and pharmacists in public health.
Pharmacy HR Strategy National Secretaries are to write to their Chief Pharmacists to ascertain what is being done about an HR or workforce strategy for the profession.
Annual National Conference 2004 There were discussions on the programme for the 2004 Annual National Conference. It was suggested that there may be a comparison between the current and future directions of pharmacy and healthcare in each of the four home countries. The 2005 Conference will be a joint conference with the UKCPA.
Awards Servier have approached the GHP about creating a new award. This will probably be a joint award with the UKCPA and focus on medicines management and patient care in the cardiovascular field.
Primary Care Pharmacists Association It was noted that the Primary Care Pharmacists Association (PCPA) are intending to run a study day on interface issues and medicines management in London next year.
Leadership and Management Development Group The first meeting of the Leadership and Management Development Group steering committee takes place on Monday. The Ivax Leadership Award is to be launched shortly. The LMDG itself will be launched at the Autumn UKCPA Symposium.
‘ghp’ Journal The GHP journal will be changing its name to Healthcare Pharmacy from the February 2004 edition.
Colin Rodden 25 September 2003