I write in response to Sid Dajani’s call on Twitter to rethink the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Pharmacy Board elections (The Pharmaceutical Journal 2015;294:661). I was a member of the Transitional Committee established to develop a modern “fit-for-purpose” RPS. We spent a long time debating the governance of the professional body. We agreed the national boards needed individuals exposed to different areas of pharmacy.
As an industrial pharmacist, it was my expectation that it would be industrial pharmacists who would elect their representative on any of the boards but a working group agreed sectoral voting would be open to everyone from all sectors.
Successful representation in any organisation is a two-way process and individuals from minority groups need a voting system that will elect a candidate representing their area of practice. For industrial pharmacy, candidates will not put themselves forward for election and industrial pharmacists will not bother to vote unless they know their vote will elect a candidate representing industrial practice.
Jane Nicholson
Slough
