A message from the chair

The first quarter of 2006 is speeding by and if I had to pick out the one thing that has pleased me most in this time it's the unprecedented interest in, and support of, the HCA that is being shown.  It was standing room only at the AGM and Annual Member Update in January and invaluable feedback on sub-committee plans was received from a broad range of members. 

At the sub-committee level there are a total of fourteen new people involved in developing and implementing the HCA's 2006 activities, including those who sit on the new Standards and Recruitment Sub-Committees.  Meanwhile the number of new member companies joining the HCA in the first place is rising by the day - of which more later.

All this comes at a time when the Executive Committee is undertaking a fundamental review of the position and evolution of the organisation and what we should be aiming for in the medium and longer term.  So, watch this space, and if you have any views on the matter please do let me or any of the Executive Committee know your thoughts.

Julia Cook, Chair
julia.cook@stepback-hc.com 

Membership and Marketing update
This year has got off to a wonderful start in terms of new HCA members with the Membership and Marketing Sub-Committee reporting that nine more companies have joined the HCA since the end of last year: 

• Aurora
• GalbraithWight
• hsd Communications
• Just:: Health PR
• Leo Pharma
• mXm Medical Communications
• Roche Products (our first international affiliate member)
• Schering-Plough
• Succinct Communications

This now brings the membership to a total of 54 organisations: 19 industry and 35 agency members.  The HCA extends a warm welcome to our new joiners and we would like to remind all members about the HCA website. 

The members' section of the site is the key portal for HCA information.  Remember you can use the members' contacts management system to ensure that all appropriate people within your company are kept fully up to date with the latest news and events.

Benchmarking update
Work is ongoing on drafting both the industry and agency benchmarking surveys with a plan to distribute the final results simultaneously this year.  The Benchmarking Sub-Committee is working closely with the other sub-committees to gain their input for inclusion in the first draft of both surveys, with these draft surveys planned to be reviewed in early March prior to implementation.

We would be grateful if as many companies as possible can complete the survey as this gives us a real picture of our industry's health and views.

 

Training update
The 2006 HCA training programme has got off to a flying start with our largest ever event taking place on 1st March 2006.

The meeting, attended by nearly 150 senior marketers and communicators from the UK pharmaceutical industry, was a first for the HCA in that it was the result of a collaboration between the ABPI and PM Society. The training and discussion day was an opportunity to hear about and discuss the impact of the revisions to the ABPI Code of Practice that came into effect this year.

The meeting was chaired by Julia Cook and Sandy Thomson (President of the PM Society) and speakers included Andrew Hotchkiss, Managing Director of Lilly UK; Heather Simmonds, Director, PMPCA; Ben Hayes, Director of Public Affairs, ABPI; and, Beryl Keeley, Unit Manager, Product Information & Advertising in the Medicines Post-Licensing Division at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

In the afternoon, delegates had the opportunity of breaking into syndicate groups by discipline to get into the finer points and debate best practice with their industry peers. The HCA's syndicate group was co-facilitated by Dr Sathish Kolli, Medical Leader Neuroscience, Medical Affairs, AstraZeneca UK and Liz Shanahan, Managing Director, Santé Communications.
 
“It is imperative that those working in marketing and communications functions in the UK pharmaceutical industry are fully up to speed with and rigorously adhering to the new PMCPA Code of Practice. The ABPI was delighted to join forces with the HCA and PM Society to provide a forum that would enable practitioners to brush up their knowledge and have a chance to discuss the implications of the new code.” Ben Hayes, Director of Public Affairs, ABPI

A full meeting report is being developed and will be posted on the HCA website in due course.  Meanwhile plans are in hand to hold a second event on April 3rd to accommodate the overwhelming response to the March event, and also to pick up on the diverse areas of need apparent from healthcare PR and medical education practitioners.

Other training news
In 2006 the HCA introduced a new pricing scheme to reward loyalty. Five places can be purchased for the price of four and two free places for Hot Topic Evening Discussion will also be included in the package.

Three of our most popular courses are following hot on the heels of the ABPI Code Training Days. They are: Meeting Your Clients' Needs on 30th March (an introductory workshop for agency and industry personnel); Better Results Through PR  on 11th April (an introductory workshop for industry personnel); and, Media Relations Workshop on 18th May (open to all).

We do hope you will take advantage of our new loyalty pricing package and attend yourself or register colleagues for this year's training courses. If you have any feedback or suggestions please contact Julia Harries at jharries@rdcomms.com or Lucie Flint at lucie@medivents.co.uk.  As always further details are available on the HCA website.

 

RoI & Evaluation update
The second RoI Forum is now scheduled for May.  The key objective will be to secure appropriate industry representatives for the RoI Forum to focus on the cost/ impact model presented in the consultation document. Participants will work in break-out groups to develop appropriate RoI measures and evaluation tactics for pre-, peri- and post-launch initiatives. 

The Evaluation Toolkit is currently undergoing assessment and observed testing through members of the sub-committee and their teams.  A fully updated version with an additional RoI section, building on the results of the RoI Forums, is scheduled for publication by end September 2006.

 

Standards update
There has been ongoing discussion about the scope of the Standards Sub-Committee, especially in light of the new ABPI Code of Practice.  To help gain further clarity, members of the sub-committee have been gathering relevant examples of codes of practice, guidelines and standards from other organisations, sectors and professions which will be reviewed in late March to produce a detailed work plan for 2006.

 

Recruitment update
The Recruitment Sub-Committee is currently finalising the 2006 plan of action and has been researching various aspects of the recruitment challenge to determine the most appropriate focus.  Following an open forum evening in early March the final plan will be ratified by the HCA executive at the end of this month. 

Key parts of the plan are likely to include:

• Ways to increase the number of graduates looking for careers in healthcare PR
• Cost-effective recruitment via on-line media
• Standards for recruitment agencies
• Identifying strategies to grow our industry talent pool by encouraging candidates from relevant fields such as NHS, not-for-profit, FMCG and corporate PR.

05-Jan-2007	HCA Benchmarking Activity
21-Dec-2006	HCA 2006 ANNUAL REVIEW
14-Dec-2006	PMLive Article - Not just a go-between
13-Jul-2006	HCA Newsletter - Issue 6
16-Mar-2006	HCA Newsletter - Issue 5
10-Dec-2005	HCA 2005 Annual Review
08-Nov-2005	HCA News Release - Industry Predicts Increased Use of Healthcare PR in the Future – But Issues Still to Be Addressed
03-Oct-2005	HCA Newsletter - Issue 4
26-Jul-2005	HCA Newsletter - Issue 3

Please click HERE to go to the news archive, where you can find all past news.