Members of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) have voted in favour of proposed changes that will see it become a Royal College by Spring 2026.
A third of RPS members turned out to vote, at 6,144 voters from a total of 19,594 eligible.
Of those, 71.1% (4,369 members) voted to confirm the proposed changes to the RPS’s Royal Charter, while 28.9% (1,775 members) voted to reject them.
RPS president Professor Claire Anderson described the vote as ‘a clear mandate in favour of the proposals’.
‘RPS can now move forward and build the collaborative professional leadership body that pharmacy deserves,’ she said.
‘Our ambition is to create greater recognition for pharmacy with the public, policy makers and other healthcare professionals and drive excellence in patient care. We believe that becoming a Royal College would help us achieve these ambitions and that as the Royal College of Pharmacy we would be able to take forward the Commitments we have set out,’ she added.
Royal College transition by Spring 2026
RPS chief executive Paul Bennett thanked ‘everyone who contributed to the debate and voted’ and said participation was valued ‘whether for or against’.
‘We have been very clear that this process was only the start of the journey that RPS must take, so that work begins now. We have committed to developing a new strategy for the new royal college and this will be a collaborative process in which our members will play a vital role,’ he added.
‘We will now focus on progressing the necessary steps with the Privy Council, Charity Commission and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. Our goal is to complete our transition to Royal College status by Spring 2026.’
CPhOs urge professions to work together
The four UK chief pharmaceutical officers (CPhOs) said the outcome was ‘a great opportunity for a fresh start and a genuine step forward for pharmacy towards the realisation of our shared ambitions; one we must all step into with confidence and renewed leadership.‘
In a joint statement, Andrew Evans (Wales), Cathy Harrison (Northern Ireland), Alison Strath (Scotland) and David Webb (England) added: ‘We fully anticipate a roadmap to future excellence and inclusivity as the next step, underpinning a genuine process of co-creation with wider professional leadership organisations across the UK over the coming year.
‘It is imperative that the professions work closely together with trust, openness and mutual understanding so we are able to reap the considerable benefits for all those working in pharmacy and for patients and our communities.‘
The proposed RPS charter changes were to become a Royal College, called ‘The Royal College of Pharmacy‘, to become a charity, which would mean it needs to create a trustee board that is responsible for legal and financial matters, and to create a wholly owned (limited) subsidiary for its knowledge business, Pharmaceutical Press.
Previously, the CPhOs, the UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board and Pharmacists‘ Defence Association had voiced differing views on the proposed changes to the RPS charter.
A version of this article was originally published by our sister publication The Pharmacist.
