Council – Pharmaceutical Society NI

Who are the Council?

The Council is the governing body of the Pharmaceutical Society NI and comprises fourteen Non-Executive Members, (one of whom is appointed by the Department of Health (NI) as President (Chair).

It focuses on strategic and major policy issues with operational issues delegated to the Chief Executive through a scheme of delegation.

All individual Council Members share collective responsibility for discharging the organisation’s functions.

By virtue of its integrated regulatory and professional roles, the Council performs functions of a public nature and is therefore accountable to its membership for the delivery of Professional Leadership (through an elected Pharmacy Forum Management Board) and directly to the public and NI Assembly for regulation.

Objectives of the Council

The objectives, as set out in the 1976 Pharmacy (Northern Ireland) Order, are:

To advance chemistry and pharmacy;
To promote pharmaceutical education and the application of pharmaceutical knowledge;
To maintain the honour and safeguard and promote the interest of the Members of the Society and in their exercise of the profession of pharmacy;
To execute all such functions as may be entrusted to the Society under any enactment; and
To provide relief to distressed persons, being:

1. Members of the Society;
2. persons who at any time have been Members of the Society or have been registered as either pharmaceutical chemists, or chemists and druggists, or druggists or apprentices to pharmaceutical chemists, or as students of the Society; or
3. widows/widowers, orphans or dependents of deceased persons who were at any time Members of the Society or registered as aforesaid.

Accountability and Responsibility

The PSNI is held to account for its operational performance by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) and is accountable to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The PSA is responsible for overseeing ten of the UK’s health and care professional regulatory bodies. Their oversight and scrutiny of the health regulators and publication of results of performance reviews and audits is important for protecting patients and the public and for maintaining confidence in regulation.

Council Members share collective responsibility for discharging the organisation’s functions and are expected to:

Lead strategic development and policy;
Ensure the proper exercise of regulatory and law enforcement duties;
Set priorities for workload, expenditure and income generation;
Monitor the implementation of policies, activities of committees, efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation, and policy evaluation;
Act as a trustee, or appoint Trustees of charitable trusts/funds;
Maintain good relationships with Members, the public and other professions;
Ensure, via the Pharmacy Forum, that the profession’s policies and views are represented to government departments and decision makers;
Decide upon the supporting structures required by Council, and the extent to which responsibility should be delegated to them where permitted;
Ensure adequate systems of appointment, appraisal, remuneration and discipline of staff exist; and
Ensure high standards of corporate governance, including financial performance and personal behaviour, and contribute to holding the executive team to account.

Duties, Expectations and Remunerations

The Council schedules at least 6 meetings per year. Council Members will also be asked to Chair or serve on at least one of 3 Standing committees which also meet up to 6 times per year. In addition, Members may be required to attend other occasional meetings/workshops/Council development sessions/training and also participate in Short Life Working Groups in order to conduct the business of Council appropriately. Most meetings are normally limited to a maximum of 4 hours duration. Members should expect to commit to up to 12 days per annum, with some meetings and events held in the evenings.

Members are expected to adhere to the seven principles as defined by the Committee on Standards in Public Life (Nolan Principles). These are: Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness, Honesty and Leadership.

Council Members will be required, on appointment, to subscribe to the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland Code of Conduct for Council Members, to be found here.

There is also a Corporate Governance Handbook.

The Council Members are remunerated by an attendance fee. Attendance at meetings up to 4 hours duration attracts a fee of £120 and for meetings over 4 hours £240. Training and induction days attract a fee of £118.

The President is paid £168 for half day and £335 for full day.

Council Members are also eligible to claim allowances, at rates set centrally, for travel and subsistence costs necessarily incurred on PSNI business.

Term of Office

A Council Member will be appointed for a period not exceeding 4 years.

It should be noted that the Department may give notice to terminate the appointment at any time. If the successful applicant decides to end their appointment early, a minimum of 30 days’ notice will be required in writing to the Department.

An annual assessment of the performance of a Council Member will be required throughout the period of appointment and will be conducted by the President.

For reason of improving the diversity of the governing bodies to which it makes appointments, the Department of Health’s policy is to not automatically re-appoint to the Council for a second term unless there are essential business reasons, such as maintaining business continuity, which necessitate the Department offering a second period of appointment to existing Council Members on completion of their first term. However, a sitting Member may re-apply through open public competition and may be considered to serve a second term subject to: the outcome of the competition recruitment process, evidence of an appropriate standard of performance having been achieved during the initial period in office and evidence of the continued adherence to the seven principles of public life. No person may serve as a Member of Council for more than 8 years in any period of 20 years.

Membership types

Lay Members must not be and never have been a registered pharmacist; and must not hold qualifications, which would entitle them to apply for registration under the Pharmacy (Northern Ireland) Order 1976.

Registered Members must be registered as a pharmaceutical chemist or druggist, or are eligible to register and commit to doing so if appointed.

Governance Handbook and Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct for Council Members

Corporate Governance Handbook