News: RPSGB must not be controlled by the pharmacy multiples says PDA

The PDA continues to be supportive of the concept of a strong professional body, especially since pharmacists going forward will increasingly need practical support to enable them to deliver new patient facing roles.

Obviously, there are concerns at the Society about how many pharmacists will join voluntarily as this will determine the income streams that will ensue and consequently, how many staff may be employed. The Society has perhaps rather anxiously stated that it hopes that around 70% of currently eligible pharmacists will join. However, concerns are now emerging about the idea that some of the large community pharmacy multiples will automatically pay their employee pharmacists membership fees.

The proposals that have been announced by several of the large multiple groups have all stated that they will review such funding going forward.

According to Mark Koziol the PDA Chairman;

"I believe that the large pharmacy multiples have controlled the professional agenda for far too long. There has been little in the way of strong representation for community employess, hospital, primary care, academia and industrial pharmacy. The emergence of a new professional leadership body is a perfect opportunity to redress that imbalance. However, if the multiples are allowed to be responsible for a substantial chunk of the Society's subscription income, then there is a distinct danger that the RPSGB will simply become a mouthpiece for these large organisations and not become the professional leadership body for pharmacists that we all hoped for. I know that RPSGB staff will be concerned for the sustainability of their incomes, however a model that sees the profession effectively controlled by large multiples, could well harm the RPSGB by damaging its leadership credentials. This problem is seen in other organisations. We need the members to genuinely want to join the new body and to be active and whilst the employer funded model may seem attractive, if many pharmacists are only in membership because of their employer's programme then this could be disastrous."

Continuing he said;

"We need the new body to speak up for and be accountable to its pharmacist members across all the sectors, and it should do so without fear or favour. After all, we all know only too well the golden rule - he who has the gold, makes the rules. What the new body does not need hanging over it, is the prospect that if it does not support the multiple agenda, then it may, at the stroke of a pen, lose significant income."

The PDA is set to meet with the new RPSGB Chief Executive and the President of the National Assembly in September and this will be an item on the agenda. Pharmacists that have strong views about this matter should make them known to the PDA.