Presidents Welcome

Steve Churton gave an impassioned speech about the new PLB and about how the move to a devolved membership body and regulator marked the most important change to the profession of pharmacy in over 150 years. He explained that over the day he would try to give delegates a feel of the culture of the new PLB and the services that will be able to members..

He also mentioned that the name of the new body will be ……The Royal Pharmaceutical Society!!! Apparantly the members of the new body can decide to change post launch if they want to but a change of name would have meant more changes to the Royal Charter which could have delayed the launch which is due in April 2010.  A General Election called before May could delay it as the new body needs to be sanctioned in parliament.

CPD

One of the main advantages of the new body will be the support it will provide for CPD. The new PLB will not “police” CPD this will be done by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). I was actually sat next to the lady who has set the criteria for CPD at the GPhC and she said that the CPD needs to be relevant to your practice and will only count at CPD if you have identified a particular need to improve either practice or knowledge. Simply attending lots of CPPE courses doesn’t constitute CPD.

As has been previous publised, pharmacists will need to submit nine pieces of CPD each year (Or when requested by the GPhC.) The nine pieces should be spread throughout the year and go though the process:

Reflection/Planning/Action/Evaluation

Pharmacist will have six weeks to submit CPD when requested.

The new PLB will support pharmacists with their CPD by offering the www.uptodate.org.uk website for recording CPD, They will also offer to review five CPD entries free of charge to members before they are submitted to the GPhC AS it has been identified that many members are worried at CPD requirements and how CPD should be recorded.

Local Practice Forums

You may have seen in the PJ lately articles about the New Local Practice Forums (LPF) these will replace branches and regions over the next two years. One in West Yorkshire has been particularly successful. These are very much seen as key to the success of the new RPSGB and the driving force behind delivery of the services for the new body.

There will be about forty LPF’s in England, five in Wales and I think seven in Scotland. The geographical spread of each will be controlled by each LPF’s but it is envisioned that they will be based around Schools of pharmacy or larger teaching hospitals.

Information of advisory services, virtual networks and myth busting to follow on Friday.

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