There has still not been a resolution to the problem of administrative support. The President and Vice-president were due to meet with Roger Kline late afternoon of 10th February.
Professional Secretary's contract extended
Ian Simpson has been told that it has been recommended that his contract be renewed for five years. The President has written to General Secretary Roger Lyons to ensure that the post remains in existence in any merger with the AEEU. Ian has also been invited to attend Roger Klines regular monthly meetings of his team.
AEEU Merger
The Section General Secretary has written to Roger Lyons to try and secure the Guild's position. It is generally unclear as to what benefits the Guild could expect if the merger went ahead. Council members attention was drawn to the quote from Roger Kline in MSF Report, December 1999, p7, which was fairly non-committal about the merger. There is concern that the three year process involved in the merger will come at the wrong time for NHS workers facing the biggest shake up in pay for years over Agenda for Change. If the plans are agreed by MSF National Conference, there will be a ballot of members, probably in the Autumn.
MCA to Prosecute Chief Pharmacist?
The MCA is considering a criminal prosecution against a Chief Pharmacist in England. A patient who was not given a patient information leaflet with his discharge medication had an adverse reaction to a drug. It was only after the GP had repeated the prescription three times that the patient finally received an information leaflet, self diagnosed the adverse reaction and reported it. There would appear to be considerable moving of official positions and shuffling backwards from various groups in response. The Professional secretary is to write to the RPSGB to ask for an update on their position.
MAL 14
MAL 14 has been renamed GN14. Exclusions from it's scope include assembly, CIVAS, section 10 and anything produced for within your Trust. However, if something is given to a patient, it comes under GN14...unless it is dispensing and outwith the regulations. A risk assessment is to be carried out to work out the impact of GN 14 on the NHS. A very large questionnaire is being sent through the Chief Executives chain asking for answers on costings, products and staffing. A large multidisciplinary committee, including QC, production, Department of Health, Chief Executives and medics will take the resultant information and produce their recommendations in a strategic document. It is planned the committee should meet by June 2000.
Medeva Medals
The Gold Medal for an outstanding contribution to hospital pharmacy at a national level has been awarded to Chris Cairns. The Silver Medal for a similar contribution at a local level has been awarded to Paul Gurnell from Sheffield.
'MSFworks'
I know several of you view this publication as junk mail which drops through your letterbox every so often, but I would be grateful if you would let me have the name and address of any member who does NOT receive it. If they do not get it, it means that, as far as MSF mailings are concerned, they don't exist - or don't exist at the address MSF have. To ensure that all members have a vote on the merger with the AEEU, it is important that MSF have their correct address. Please check that all your members are getting 'MSFworks'.
'ghp'
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I would be grateful if you would send me any comments you have on the new journal. Constructive criticism, suggestions for articles and general comments would all be very welcome, and I will pass them on to the editorial board. |
Pay, discretionary points and other problems
A lot of members have been affected by the problems with discretionary points explained in my report to Council, and Pharmaceutical Whitley Council have said that this should have been taken into consideration in all communications. These and other anomalies will be taken up with management side as part of next years pay claim discussions. An article will be appearing in 'ghp' shortly. Another problem which has cropped up was one where a member was not able to get a mortgage of the value required because the building society would not take the emergency duty allowance into account when preparing the mortgage offer. Staff side would like to hear about any other problems encountered after the pay deal was agreed.
Weekend School 2000
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Remember - National Weekend School Brighton 7-9th April 2000 |
Group Delegates Meeting
The GDM Working Party has decided that there is not enough time to bring a rule change to the Guild AGM in April. Instead, it has agreed that the format for this coming year stay much the same as at present. However, they will attempt to establish a time during the event to discuss various topics in small working groups. The mechanics of this and the topics for discussion will be brought to the June council meeting. The working groups cannot be part of the GDM, as it's content is strictly controlled.
TO DO
This is a new section to the report, and it summarises all the information that I need from you -
Details of members not receiving 'MSFworks'
Comments on 'ghp'
Problems caused by the pay deal
| GHP Awards - The Baxter Award
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· Are you working in the field of intravenous therapy?
· Have you made advances in your aseptic services?
· Have you helped to improve the safety of your patients on IV therapy?
· Are you developing innovative IV services?
· Are you carrying out research in the field of IV therapy?
· Are you involved in home IV therapy?
· Have you developed your parenteral nutrition services?
· Do you have something new in this field to tell your colleagues?
If so, then you should apply for this Intravenous Therapy award.
The Baxter Healthcare Intravenous Therapy Award is dedicated to the most innovative abstract concerning practice, development or research in all areas of intravenous therapy including hospital care, homecare, drug delivery systems, CIVA services and nutrition. The winning submission will be presented, as a poster, at the International Poster Session held during the 35th Midyear Clinical Meeting of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, December 3rd - 7th 2000 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The award will cover the registration fee for the meeting, travel expenses and six nights hotel accommodation. Assistance may also be provided for the preparation of the poster.
Closing Date: 30th March 2000