MERGER


for the community pharmacy network


ONE VOICE


THE CPNI AND UCA MERGER HAS bEEN AGREED WITH EFFECT FROM MAY AND OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS A NEW bODY WILL EVOLVE THAT I HOPE WILL IMPROVE REPRESENTATION AND MORE FULLY ARTICULATE THE NEEDS AND ASPIRATIONS OF ALL CONTRACTORS: THOSE THAT PROVIDE COMMUNITY PHARMACY SERVICES AND – VICARIOUSLY - THE EXCELLENT STAFF WHO DELIVER THE SERVICES THE PUbLIC APPRECIATE SO MUCH


By Terry Maguire I


t’s been a bit of a journey and I thought it might be useful at this juncture to get at least one


perspective on the merger process and the possibilities for the future. Like all perspectives, it will of course be biased, but I can claim some independence in this matter. brought into UCA as a Trustee four years ago, I have never been on the boards of either group.


I knew from my first months as a UCA Trustee that things needed to change. The old model of a representative organisation supported


6 - PHARMACY IN FOCUS


by voluntary fees was proving difficult to sustain and, with our small size in Northern Ireland, this proved particularly challenging. I published a paper ‘Future Options’ identifying four options: (1) keep with the strategy, (2) merge with Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland/Pharmacy Forum/Royal Pharmaceutical Society, (3) wind up the company or (4) merge with CPNI.


Each option was considered in some detail and for various reasons the most practical option was to seek a merger with CPNI. This had been tried before but without success. In the early years of the new


millennium - a long time ago now - a proposal for UCA and CPNI (it was then PCC) to merge was accepted by a UCA AGM.


The idea was hardly novel. In Great britain, the negotiation body – the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) - and trade union body – National Pharmacy Association (NPA) - were broaching a similar alignment (which never happened). In the Republic of Ireland, the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) always had a dual role of supporting contractors in their day-to-day businesses as well as negotiating on their behalf with government. UCA or CPNI were


not opposed to a merger but, despite talks, little happened. The opportunity was lost at the time, but the idea made too much sense to go away.


So it was with some trepidation that I had initial brief discussions with John Clark - then the Vice Chair of CPNI - and he set up a meeting. The positive and constructive discussions initiated by Paul Cooper – the Chair - and John Clark allowed a fresh start to discussions and they worked for over a year with a UCA team: Cliff McElhinney, Edel McMahon, Stephen Slaine and myself, to set up a process and reach an agreement that both bodies could agree with and sign up to.


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