To Infinity And Beyond...

I attended the Greater Manchester Local Practice Forum (LPF) launch event today, which, as well as informing me of a great many issues and topics that I was previously unaware of, alerted me to the fact that the last blog I wrote on here was in November.

I could argue my case that the exams I sat in January were the worst I'd ever experienced; I could safely say that any of my colleagues on my course agree. Goodness knows I was mentally and physically exhausted following my last exam and I'm still recovering!

The Greater Manchester LPF replaces former RPS branches in Greater Manchester and ushered in with it a new era in pharmacy. It seems that many changes have been happening recently, simultaneously. I remember a recent blog from Adam Rathbone regarding recently approved student, prereg and associate membership. When I first read it, I wasn't all that interested (that's not to say you aren't interesting, Adam!).

However, at the launch event today, the president of the RPS wanted to make clear the intentions of the LPFs and the RPS in its new role of sole representation of pharmacists. It is more focused on serving its members and allowing its members to benefit from its advantages, said the president. All this sounded amazing to me. At a fairly low price of £192 annually, members could get many benefits, which I can't really exhaustively list.

So when the president questioned why some pharmacists were unwilling to renew their membership, it surprised me. I think the main reason, although not solitary, is the fact that some pharmacists may have been alienated by the RPS in the past. One pharmacist at the conference mentioned that he had been in the profession for many decades and that he has been dissatisfied with the RPS at some points in his career.

We were assured that the RPS now has its members at the forefront of its activities and is not like the previous RPS. An example of its work that sticks out from the conference is the establishment of a link between journalists and pharmacists so that pharmacy is directly and correctly represented in the media by a member at the RPS; many members have represented pharmacy on news channels and the like. In short, there are many places and avenues down which the RPS can go, for the benefit of its members. I'm sure what's occurred so far is only the beginning.

I for one am looking forward to joining the RPS; best of all, even though I'm only a student for another year and a half, student membership is free!