The Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland is the governing body of the organisation. It focuses on strategic and major policy issues.

It consists of 18 elected pharmacist members, 2 persons nominated by Queens University, 1 person nominated by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety on behalf of the medical profession, and one person nominated on behalf of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers.

Legislation is currently being prepared to make the Council independently appointed, in line with the recommendations of the 2007 Government White Paper "Trust, Assurance and Safety".  

The Council meets at 7 pm on the third Thursday of each month (During the summer there will only be one meeting in either July or August).

Council meetings are open to members of the public and registrants are welcome to attend.

Council members

Ms Ann Bowen MPSNI:  President
Qualified in 1977 and worked as the Chief Pharmacist at Knockbracken Healthcare Park in Belfast.  Ms Bowen represents the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland on the Pharmacy Practices Committee and in November 2009 was elected President.

The role of the President

 

Mr Mark Nelson MPSNI: Vice President
Qualified from Queens University in 1989 and currently working as a Senior Pharmaceutical Officer for the Business Services Organisation. Mark Nelson had previously worked in and managed a broad spectrum of community pharmacies both independent and group pharmacies. He has been a member of Council since January 2006.

The role of the Vice President

 

 

 

Mr Paul Kelly MPSNI: Hon. Treasurer

After qualifying, Paul Kelly worked as a locum pharmacist in both the community and hospital sectors. Having managed a pharmacy for a year, he then worked for two years for the Lederle Division of American Cyanamid, followed by two years for Glaxo plc. Returning to community pharmacy, Paul owned and operated 5 pharmacies as well as two non pharmacy businesses and also completed courses in Marketing, Management Accountancy and Finance.

Paul has also been Hon. Secretary and a vice-chairman of Sangers Pharmaceutical Supplies Wholesalers, a Vice Chairman of Barclays plc, President of the Ulster Chemist Association, and a member of the Pharmaceutical Contractors Committee of Northern Ireland.

 The role of the Honorary Treasurer

 

 

Mr Raymond Anderson MPSNI                                                                                                                        

Qualified in 1980 and currently running two community pharmacy shops in Portadown.  Raymond Anderson joined the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland in 1997, he was the Chair of Education from 1999 to 2001.  He was elected Honorary Treasurer in 2001 and Vice-President in 2005 and was  elected as the President 2006 -09.  He has represented the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland on a variety of external Committees. 

In 2009 Raymond was elected as a Vice-President of the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association.

 

 

 

 

Ms Helena Buchanan MPSNI

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms Jacqui Dougan MPSNI, MBA 

A qualified pharmacist and now working as a pharmacy management consultant, Jacqui has worked in a variety of pharmacy roles including retail pharmacy, education, wholesale and distribution and management consultancy. Serving on Council as the Wholesale Drug Representative, Jacqui also represents Council on the Central Pharmaceutical Advisory Council and the governing committee of the Northern Ireland Centre for Pharmacy Learning and Development.

 

 

 

Dr Glenda Fleming MPSNI 
Glenda Fleming graduated from the Queen's University of Belfast with a degree in Pharmacy in 1996.  After completion of pre-registration training in community pharmacy and registering as a pharmacist in 1997, she returned to the School of Pharmacy at Queen's to study for a PhD.  Her research considered drug abuse and misuse, from a community pharmacy perspective and had a focus on over the counter products. 

On completion of her PhD, she worked as research fellow for the Northern Ireland Centre for Postgraduate Pharmaceutical Education and Training (NICPPET, now NICPLD).  She currently works in the Research and Development Office for the HPSS in Northern Ireland as Liaison Development Manager for pharmacy where a key objective of her role is to assist the pharmacy profession develop its full R&D potential and research capacity.  In addition she undertakes occasional locums in community pharmacy.  She became a Council member on 2002.

 

Mrs Muriel Singleton OBE FPSNI

Muriel was a lecturer in the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s University for many years with responsibility for training in all areas related to Pharmacy Practice and was awarded an OBE in 2001 for services to Pharmaceutical Education and Training.  She joined the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society in 2000 just prior to taking early retirement. She served as Chairman of the Ethics and Law Committee for the past six years completing her current term of office in October 2008.  She continues to work in a part–time capacity undertaking training for Pre-Registration Trainees in the area of Law and Ethics and is involved in the Distance Learning Postgraduate Clinical Programmes for the School of Pharmacy at Queens University.  Muriel serves on a number of pharmacy related Committees including the Northern Ireland Committee for Postgraduate Pharmaceutical Education and Training and the Pharmacy Practices Committee

 

 

 
Dr Lisa Byers MPSNI 

Qualified in 1997, completing her PhD with a Medical Devices Group at Queens University Belfast in 2001, Lisa Byers is currently working as a locum in community pharmacy. She has previously worked as a hospital pharmacist in various locations throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. Lisa joined the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland in 2006.

 

 

 

Professor James McElnay MPSNI

James C. McElnay is Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Chairman of the Clinical and Practice Research Group within the School of Pharmacy, and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Health and Life Sciences within Queen's.   He is a past president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland and immediate past Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE).  He is a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and The Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland.  His main research interest is in developing processes and systems which lead to the safe and effective use of medicines within both primary and secondary care.  He is an Editorial Board member of four journals in the clinical pharmacy arena and is a regular speaker at national and international conferences. 

 

Mrs Roberta Tasker MPSNI

 

Ms Andree McCollum MPSNI

 

Dr Colin Fitzpatrick

 

Prof. David Woolfson MPSNI

 

Prof. Gerry Linden

 

Prof. Paul McCarron MPSNI

 

The roles and accountabilities of Council Members are available to view here

Members of Council are expected to abide by a Code of Conduct which is available to view here

In the event of complaint that a Council member may have breached the Code of Conduct, the procedure to be followed is available to view here