Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Military Medicine (ACPIMM)

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DRAFT ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF EXECUTIVE MEMBERS

(The roles and responsibilities outlined here are subject to change and will be agreed prior to the inaugural meeting of the Executive Committee for the group later in the year. The information is published here to provide outline information on the expected responsibilities of elected Executive Members. Elections to the Executive will occur later in the year).

The Executive Committee has responsibility for the future direction and leadership of ACPIMM as well as its overall administration.

THE ROLE OF THE CHAIRMAN

The Chairman is always the person in charge; of both the group and the Executive Committee, and will take charge whenever the need arises. The Chairman will work closely with other committee members, particularly the secretary who deals with the administrative duties of meetings. The Chairman chairs meetings of the Executive Committee and may chair study days and or conferences.

The basic purpose of having a Chairman present is to keep a meeting organised, whilst allowing its participants to state their opinions and ideas, and securing a commitment to a consensus. The Chairman of ACPIMM will be an appointed senior Commissioned Officer and will crucially act as a central figurehead on representative issue both to the CSP and the Chain of Command. During an Executive Meeting, the Chairman will:

• Ensure that there is a quorum (a fixed number of members must be present to make the Executive Committee valid and able to carry out business). The numbers of members required to constitute a quorum will have been decided at the group’s first meeting and is stated in the constitution.
• Maintain the order of the agenda.
• Listen, test understanding, canvass opinions and summarise the discussions.
• Ensure that everybody gets a fair hearing, and has had an equal opportunity to express their views.
• Keep the meeting in order ensuring that it does not go off at a tangent by exercising firm control and tact.
• Summarise the discussion at the end of each item and clarify the decisions made and action to be taken.
• Adjourn the meeting. The Chairman may adjourn the meeting if a quorum is not present or if order cannot be maintained. In each case a motion to that effect needs to be proposed and seconded and carried by the committee.
• Check and approve the minutes.

N.B. In the absence of the Chairman, any member can take the chair as long as that person is nominated and seconded by the committee and a majority of members present agree.

Committee Papers:

The two most important committee papers are the agenda and the minutes. The secretary will draft both papers, but the Chairman should make the ultimate decision on their content.

The Agenda:

The agenda is drafted by the Secretary in consultation with the Chairman, and should be used basically to list the items which are to be discussed at a meeting. It will help committee members to prepare for the meeting by knowing in advance the issues to be discussed. However, its main purpose should be to clarify and speed up a meeting and the Chairman will bear this in mind. The agenda and any accompanying papers should be sent in advance to all those due to attend the meeting and can also serve as official notifications of the meeting if it is sent out in time.

Minutes:

The minutes are notes taken during committee meetings by the secretary. It is the Chairman’s job to approve them, prior to them being sent to committee members, ensuring that they are an accurate record of all committee business, the decisions made and those responsible for implementing any action accordingly. Any correspondence or reports relevant to the items discussed at the meetings which were included with the agenda should be attached as appendices. The minutes will be written as soon after a meeting as possible and, after approval by the chairman, circulated to all honorary officers, committee members and interested parties.

Master copies of the agenda, all supporting papers, the minutes and any appendices should be kept in date order in a minutes file to form a continuous record of committee business. The Chairman will sign the copy of the minutes at the beginning of the next meeting, when they receive formal approval by the committee.

Representation by The Chairman:

In addition to Executive Committee duties, the Chairman has the important duty, as the person in charge, to represent the group and its views to the Chain of Command and the CSP. This duty is performed in three ways: by developing contacts with other groups and medical or related bodies and professionals; by developing existing links with the CSP and other medical or related bodies and professionals; by taking appropriate action on matters relevant to physiotherapy and rehabilitation in the medical services through representation to the Chain to Command.

THE ROLE OF THE SECRETARY

A Secretary has to be organised, as administration forms a large part of the workload. If possible, secretarial assistance with typing of minutes and general correspondence is useful. The Secretary will work closely with the Chairman and keep him/her informed of matters and developments.

As a Secretary a major part of the role is to provide the administrative support to the Executive Committee. The other main areas of responsibility are categorised under two headings:

General Administration:

The following is a list of general administrative responsibilities held by the secretary:

• Maintaining up to date lists of officers, their contact addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses;
• Relaying information from the CSP to members and from members to the CSP
• Maintaining a supply of headed notepaper for correspondence
• Acting as a communication link between the group and local outside organisations
• Dealing with enquiries from non-members
• Administering the election of honorary officers and the executive committee
• Sending up to date lists of officers to the Professional affairs department at the CSP annually, or as officers details change
• Dealing with correspondence in consultation with the Chairman
• Providing additional advice to the Chairman on constitutional matters and administrative conduct of the group.

Meetings:

The Secretary is responsible for the administrative support for all general meetings and should be aware of any constitutional implications and assist the chairman in decisions on points of order.

There are three types of meetings in which the secretary in conjunction with the Chairman, plays an important role:

Annual General Meeting (AGM):

This meeting may form a part of the agenda of a study day or a conference. The aim of this meeting is to:

• Elect by ballot or otherwise at the meeting, or by postal ballot, the honorary officers of the Executive Committee, with the exception of the Chairman and Secretary of the Executive Committee. The Chairman shall be appointed by the Director of Defence Rehabilitation (DRR). The secretary will be appointed by the Chairman prior to the first meeting of the Executive Committee.
• Receive and adopt the annual report and account for the previous year
• Appoint an auditor for the ensuing year
• Transact any other business

21 clear days of notice will be given to members of an AGM.

General Meeting:

General meetings are called at the discretion of the Executive Committee. 14 days clear notice will be given to members. The meeting will be chaired by the Chairman, or in their absence Vice-Chairman, if appropriate. General meetings are held to discuss the group’s business.

Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM):

These are usually held to discuss urgent business. The secretary shall call and arrange an EGM on:

• Receipt of instructions from the Executive Committee seconded by the Chairman.
• On receipt of a written requisition signed by a given percentage of the membership (defined by ACPIMM).

14 days clear notice must be given to members of an EGM. The EGM shall be chaired by the Chairman. The EGM will be limited to the business for which it was called.

Preparing The Agenda:

The agenda is drafted by the Secretary in consultation with the Chairman and is more than just a list of items which are to be discussed at a meeting; its main purpose should be to speed up and clarify a meeting. For example the phrase ‘lecture programme’ tells nobody very much, whereas the longer explanation, ‘to receive suggestions for proposed speakers for the 2003 lecture programme’ helps all committee members to form some views, or think about the item in advance.

It might be that items are headed ‘for information’, ‘for discussion’ or ‘for decision’ in order that those present at the meeting know what is expected of them.

To be most useful, an agenda will be issued in advance to all those due to attend the meeting. The agenda can also serve as official notification of a meeting if it is sent out to members in time. The agenda will not be circulated too far in advance; five to seven days will considered about right, unless the supporting papers are voluminous and need more time to read and absorb. A typical agenda format will be as follows:

Title:
Date, time and location of meeting

Agenda:
• Apologies for absence (reported verbally by the Secretary)
• To confirm the minutes of the last meeting (any alterations should be reported and corrected on the master copy before the Chairman signs them)
• Matters arising from the minutes
• Any items which need reporting on from the last meeting
• Any items which need action from the last meeting
• Agenda items (new items of business)
• Any other business (for last minute items not listed on the agenda, which can be raised by any member present)
• Date of next meeting

Writing Minutes:

Minutes are notes taken during committee meetings and should will be an accurate record of all committee business, the decisions which are made and those responsible for implementing any action accordingly.

The Secretary will not attempt to write down everything word for word, but note all agenda items and take detailed notes of the main points made which lead to decisions, and any formal resolutions which are made. At the same time, the minutes will clearly show how decisions are reached if they are to form a useful record for the committee, particularly for those members not present at the meeting.

Actions agreed on, will be reflected in an ‘action’ column, recording the names of those asked to carry tasks. Any correspondence or reports relevant to items discussed at meetings which were not included with the agenda will be attached as appendices to the minutes, which will be written as soon after the meeting as possible, approved by the Chairman, and then circulated to all honorary officers, committee members and interested parties.

Master copies of the agenda and all supporting papers, the minutes and any appendices should be kept in date order in a minutes file. The Chairman will sign the copy of the minutes at the beginning of the next meeting, when they receive formal approval.

THE ROLE OF THE TREASURER

The role of the Treasurer is to keep control of the group’s finances by recording financial transactions. This should be done as simply as possible, both to avoid unnecessary labour and to make them easily understandable. The basic transactions are receipts and payments.

Receipts:

Those most commonly received are:

• Subscriptions
• Capitation fees
• Interest on funds held on deposit
• Income from courses
• Income from advertising

Payments:

Those most commonly paid are:

• Meetings of the executive committee, venue, catering and travel expenses
• Printing
• Postage
• Telephone
• Stationery
• Expenses of officers
• Expenses of courses
• Expenses of others
• Honoraria

Account Books:

These need to be both practical and understandable to use. The basic records are for banking i.e. receipts, cheques drawn and petty cash. Petty cash compromises receipts and payments made in cash, which are not passed through the bank account, and are often recorded in a small separate petty cash book. These books will be analysis books i.e. with a total column and analysis column for each of the main categories of receipts and payments.

Keeping The Records:

The most important point is to ensure that the records are written up as soon as possible thus ensuring both that they are always up to date and no large backlogs of work accrues.

Preparation of Annual Accounts:

The ideal is to ensure that the analysis columns in your cash books are consistent with the headings in the annual receipts and payments account, in which case all that will be required is to transfer the totals of the analysis columns on the accounts sheet.

Points To Remember:

The opening balances at 01 Jan must be identical to the closing balances at 31 Dec of the previous year’s accounts. The totals of the receipts and payments columns will agree. Accounts will be prepared in ample time to have them audited and then approved at the AGM before being sent to the Lydia Michejew (Finance Function) at the CSP.

Bank accounts:

The bank account will be a non public account. Arrangements for the formation of the account will be agreed at the first Executive Committee Meeting. Most groups operate a bank account on which cheques are drawn and which is interest-bearing. Any interest earned will have tax deducted at source thus ensuring that the group does not have the trouble of preparing tax returns, dealing with the Inland Revenue etc. Most groups have two signatories.

Accounts For Courses / Conferences:

A careful but simple record of all receipts and payments in respect of individual courses and conferences will be kept. Receipts will consist mainly of fees from participants for which a list of attendees and the fees each has paid will be a sufficient record; payments will be evidenced by invoices.

Newly Appointed Treasurers:

The best single piece of advice for a new treasurer is to find out all you can from your predecessor. He or she will know more about the group’s accounts than anyone else. The other fundamental piece of advice is to ensure that your predecessor hands over to you all the books, papers, bank statements etc.

THE ROLE OF THE RESEARCH OFFICER

Being a Research Officer is an emerging and vital role. The role can be just as important within occupational groups as clinical interest groups, as research is not restricted to clinical areas, but encompasses models of service delivery and management approaches, and the responsibility to provide efficacious care, based on evidence, lies with all. With the growth of research and evaluation activities within the profession and the need for evidence-based practice, it is envisaged that this role will become increasingly important, providing a vital contribution to the organisation, operation and direction of the group.

For recognition of a CI/OG, it is essential to have a commitment to research and a research officer role. Whether your group is small or large, the need remains the same. Staff at the CSP will be available to support you in this role and are aware that the level of support required may vary from one group to another.

The Increasing Role of Research

There has not been a strong historical tradition of research within the physiotherapy profession. However this has changed dramatically over the last 10 years. The need for physiotherapy practice to establish a firm knowledge base, founded on evidence, is now recognised as being vital for the survival and continued growth of the profession. Evaluation of practice links strongly with quality improvement and clinical effectiveness.

Research and development within the NHS is being taken forward primarily through a series of research programmes, for example, complex disabilities and health technology assessment. Through these programmes there are increasing opportunities for physiotherapy research, accompanied by suitable levels of funding. Priorities within these programmes are established through consultation exercises. Being able to effectively contribute to these exercises is important if issues relevant to the profession, and the population we care for, are to be included.

This will continue to be a growth area, especially with the demands from purchasers and health commissioners to base contracts and purchasing decisions on the available evidence. Whilst acknowledging that research is on the increase within physiotherapy it is also important to recognise the gaps.

The Role of The Research Officer:

• Direct enquirers to appropriate sources of information:

a. Local libraries
b. CSP Library and Information Services (US)
c. Cochrane Collaboration
d. NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination

• Contribute articles and disseminate information through newsletter/journal
• Facilitate networks for research issues, internally within group, with the CSP and provide advice on where to register research e.g. on the CSP research database.
• Promote the value of research and evaluation:
• Promote research activity
• Act as a point of contact for external agencies/organisations.
• Answer enquiries from a variety of sources on research.

To do the above the Research Officer will need to keep up to date with research relevant to your area, or be able to direct people to appropriate sources. Encourage them to use local facilities where available. Having a few references to get people started is helpful.

The Research Officer is not expected to answer enquiries requesting details about all relevant articles related to your area of interest.

• Attend executive committees
• Contribute to working groups as necessary.
• Outline Services offered by the CSP to support the research officer:

The Research and Development Officer at the CSP is based in the Education Department. The officer can advise you on any matters relating to research and development and put you in contact with other useful sources of information and support. A free quarterly Physiotherapy Research Bulletin is produced. A register of Therapy Researchers was produced collaboratively with the College of Occupational Therapy and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in 1997. The research development officer is responsible for servicing the quarterly Research Development Group and manages the Physiotherapy Research Foundation.

The information resource centre is a well established national bibliographic centre for physiotherapy literature and has access to several databases. Current awareness bulletins are produced, these are available every 2 months on subscription and suggestions for topics are welcomed from groups.

• Outline how the CSP may seek assistance from the Research Officer

The CSP is asked to comment on a large number of documents produced by the government and other agencies, and to contribute to priority setting exercises. In order that full and comprehensive replies can be provided, the Society endeavours to consult with the appropriate groups as widely as possible.

• Be aware of the CSP physiotherapy research database

The CSP maintains a register of physiotherapy research, which is currently being carried out or has recently been completed, and therefore has not been published. It provides you with details of research projects and useful contacts in your area of interest. We rely on members to send us details of your research, so the Research Officer will keep the CSP informed in order that the group and the CSP enable an accurate and comprehensive database. A form is available on request and it is also published regularly in ‘Physiotherapy’. The Research Officers should ask the LIS team to send them details of research projects that have been catalogued onto the database that is of interest to their specialty. Contact the LIS team via lis@csp.org.uk or on 020 7306 6155.

THE ROLE OF THE LIAISON MEMBER (LM)

The LM has an important role to play in promoting the activity of the group to its members, the profession and to the public. The exact role of a LM varies within groups.

The value of public relations:

This is mainly to increase awareness and understanding of physiotherapy in relation to the specialty of the group. Without public relations activity the general public would not normally be aware of physiotherapy unless they or a friend or relative have had treatment. They would not be aware of the wide-ranging skills and treatment available from members of the profession. Other professionals such as doctors and nurses, teachers, Members of Parliament and journalists also need to know about the physiotherapy profession. This can only be achieved by physiotherapists in the groups establishing good communication links and this is the key role of the LM who will work closely with the Chairman.

The LM has a role to play both nationally and locally:

• To promote the activity of the group, e.g. letting the professional press know about meetings, the new Executive Committee, your new ‘star’ President, if one should exist in future years, the work the group is doing, research in your field, conferences etc.
• To promote the role of the group to the public, e.g. letting the local press know about developments in the specialty;
• To speak or arrange for the Chairman or someone he or she appoints to speak to the local press / radio on issues relevant to the group;
• To be responsible for the provision of content material for the group web site, this will act as the group notice board, and for material for display at national meetings, and other forums such as Congress and other appropriate events.

Liaison With The Press:

The LM will liaise directly with the Chairman of the group on all subject matters, especially those requiring representation such as a speech or interview. In discussion with the Chairman, an appropriate person will be invited to represent to represent the group on specific subjects when required. The LM will maintain a list of ‘best’ contacts in within ACPIMM so that requests for interviews or articles can be dealt with quickly.

Dealing With Enquiries:

The LM will reply to a large number of queries on behalf of the group. It is important to provide a good service to members and non-members. All responses will be passed by the Chairman of the ACPIMM

Responding to the media:

Many do not feel confident to comment to the Media when they see physiotherapy information misinterpreted or incorrectly stated. For assistance on how to write to the news editor or programme producer giving them the correct facts is available in Fact sheet 11, How to complain to the Media from the Communications Department.

Other fact sheets from the CSP Communications and Marketing Function that you may find useful are:

• Fact sheet 1 Effective speaking
• Fact sheet 2 On the air — broadcast interview
• Fact sheet 7 Writing a press release
• Fact sheet 9 How the press works
• Fact sheet 12 The role of the honorary LM
• Fact sheet 14 What is news

Further advice and support regarding the Public Relations Officer / LM role is available from the CSP Communications and Marketing Function. Contact: Raquel Simpson simpsonr@csp.org.uk or 020 7306 6628

THE ROLE OF THE DIVERSITY MEMBER

It is a legal requirement for each Committee to have in post a Disability Discriminations Member (encompassed within the Diversity Officer role). The name of this officer will be lodged with Menna Jones at the CSP.

The role of the Diversity Member is to ensure that discrimination does not exist, diversity is recognised and equality is guaranteed within CI/OG activities.

It is also the responsibility of the Diversity Member to know or have access to current legislation and CSP policy affecting diversity issues and to keep the Executive Committee up to date with any emerging initiatives. For more information on the Acts, please see point 9.3.

The Code of Practice provides a list of actions for organisations to follow to ensure that they are complying with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and amendment regulations 2003 and which can be used as a checklist.

Point 1: Establishing a policy of non-discrimination and ensuring that all staff and all those acting on behalf of the organisation, whether paid or unpaid are aware of it.
(cross reference briefing paper — guidelines on disability (CSP Council 2000)

Point 2: Providing training for staff and those acting on behalf of the organisation in the organisation’s policies and in their legal obligations under the Act

Point 3: Monitoring the implementation of the non-discriminatory policy

Point 4: Making it clear that the organisation expects that the policy will be complied with, and making it clear that breaches of the policy will not be tolerated.

Point 5: Having clear procedures for dealing with breaches of the policy including dealing with harassment. Having a procedure whereby disabled people can easily make complaints, and which is designed to assist effective resolution of problems.

Point 6: Audit and regularly review the organisation’s services for their accessibility

Breaches of policy including harassment will be dealt with through a number of possible routes:

• The Rules of Professional Conduct (CSP 2002). If a member believes that another member has discriminated against and/or harassed them then they can make a formal complaint
• If a member wishes to make a complaint against a named member of CSP staff then the complaint will be dealt with under the CSP’s procedures for dealing with complaints against members of staff;
• Any member who has difficulties in accessing services from a constituent body of the CSP should, in the first instance, discuss their needs with an officer of that group. Any member wishing to complain about unresolved access issues should contact the CSP Chief Executive Office.

Support on this role is available from Léonie Dawson at the CSP.

THE ROLE OF THE CIGLC REPRESENTATIVE

The Clinical Interest Group Liaison Committee meets quarterly. The committee is made up of one member from each clinical interest/occupational group which includes the four CIG representatives on the Professional Practice Committee. The meetings provide communication links between groups and the CSP - providing the platform for the clinical voice of the CLIOG.

The role of the CIGLC representative carries with it a significant amount of responsibility. The CIGLC Representative will be required to prepare for each of the meetings. Papers are sent out directly to them and they should network to get comments on the issues raised from the rest of the executive committee and members, in order to feedback and possibly vote at CIGLC.

The CIGLC members nominate 4 representatives that sit on the Professional Practice Committee and this link promotes links between the CI/OGs and the PPC.

Following attendance at the CIGLC the representative is responsible for writing up a summary report of the meeting to take to the rest of the CIG executive committee.

The representative may choose to write an article in the Newsletter as a method of disseminating information to the members. Other methods of communication! Dissemination is at the discretion of the representative.

There is an annual CI/OG conference and the CIGLC representative will be responsible for developing the programme of this conference and nominate persons from their CI/OG to attend, generally during the quarterly meetings.

The CIGLC meeting also has the opportunity for submitting motions to ARC and as a CIGLC representative you have the opportunity to discuss and submit motions for ARC raised by the CIGLC. The CIGLC has designated places in ARC.

The CIGLC representative may also be required to act on behalf of the CIG in terms of participation in certain CSP action plans.

The CIGLC is supported by an Officer and an Administrator from the CSP who are responsible for facilitating communication. The Administrator ensures that papers and documents are circulated prior to the committee meeting and will circulate the minutes post meeting.

THE ROLE OF THE NEWSLETTER/JOURNAL EDITOR

A newsletter is useful for presenting information in a clear and easily understood way to fellow members. For a newsletter/journal to be effective the design and layout of information must be carefully considered, please find below some tips on writing and editing news:

• Use short, punchy sentences and paragraphs
• Be concise with your wording
• The first paragraph of each item should sum up the whole story
• Even if other people assist with the writing of information for the paper, only one officer should be editing the paper.
• Headlines and sub-headlines are important for breaking up text (headlines should be direct, amusing or slightly mysterious, so as to encourage readers).
• Do not use too many different styles of lettering and typesetting as a consistent design is important.
• Use columns instead of typing across the page.
• Graphics (photographs, cartoons, charts, symbols or logos) are very effective as they are more direct and concise than words.
A subgroup of a CI/OG wishing to publish a document is required to submit the document to the parent CI/OG prior to publication.

Writing for CI/OG journals/newsletters:

The LIS team would be happy to write for CI/OG journals and newsletters, if this fits in with the type of articles carried by individual CI/OG publications i.e. non-clinical information. We would be particularly interested in promoting the good quality online resources appropriate to the different subject areas covered by CI/OGs. Requests for contributions to newsletters and journals should be sent to the Library and Information Services (US) Manager at the CSP via peacea@csp.org.uk or 020 7314 7883.

CIOG/CSP literature database:

The CSP US team is trying to promote the work of CI/OGs to members, and other librarians via variety of methods:

• The US team instigated the ‘CSP Library and Information Bulletin’ aimed primarily at librarians / information workers in April 2002. One hundred and sixty librarians are now registered and new CI/OG publications are publicised through the newsletter.
• The LIS team has recently created a database within the CSP Library system of all CSP and CI/OG publications, so this group of publications can be searched as a discrete entity. The database includes book, report and leaflet resources. Details of CI/OG publications are sent out to members when requesting a search of this database.
• The LIS team is currently setting up a bibliographic database of all the clinical and occupational group literature not already indexed elsewhere. This database includes titles, authors, bibliographic details, keywords and abstracts of each article. We will be exploring the possibility of putting this database on the CSP Web site in the future.

To undertake all of the above, the LIS team needs to know about all new CI/OG publications. Some best practice already exists between CI/OGs and the LIS team in terms of some CI/OGs depositing a complementary copy of every information resource / leaflet / newsletter / journal etc with the team. Some CI/OGs then advertise in their newsletter or journal the fact that members can also access their resources via the CSP Library and Information Service. We ask that each CI/OG ensures that all publications are sent to the US team in future, in order that we can promote such resources to members and other enquirers.

Updated 04 Jan 04