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The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has announced the changes it is proposing to its Royal Charter and the dates of an all-member vote that will pave the way for its transition to become a Royal College. 

The announcement comes after a difficult three years for the Society and a very public U-turn in its position on becoming a Royal College.

In March 2022 English Pharmacy Board chair Thorrun Govind revealed the RPS had no plans to become a Royal College, a situation at odds with what many members had regarded as a long-held ambition of the organisation since it emerged from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in 2010.

The ‘special resolution vote’ (SRV) of RPS members will take place between Thursday 13 March and Monday 24 March 2025. It follows an 18 month-long process and unanimous decision by its Assembly which agreed the RPS should move to a structure that better supports its new ambitions.

Draft proposals were discussed with pharmacists and the wider pharmacy community during October and November 2024 and the results published in a Roadshow Report.

The proposed changes to the Society’s Royal Charter outline that:

• RPS seeks to becomes a Royal College – the Royal College of Pharmacy
• RPS seeks to becomes a charity
• RPS creates a wholly owned (limited) subsidiary for its publishing activities.

To achieve these objectives, changes to RPS governance are proposed:

• Under charity law, RPS must create a Trustee Board to run the charity, which will also take on all legal and financial responsibilities. These are currently the responsibility of the Assembly
• The Assembly will retain its oversight on all professional matters, at a GB level. However, to recognise these changes the Assembly will be renamed the Senate
• As health is a devolved issue, the National Pharmacy Boards will remain responsible for policy and be elected by the membership. However to avoid confusion in naming with the Trustee Board, these will be renamed National Councils.

Former president says RPS moves towards Royal College status lack transparency

Full details of the proposed Charter changes appear on the RPS website, along with the full wording of the SRV. The SRV comprises of two elements:

• the proposed amends to RPS Royal Charter
• changing its name to the Royal College of Pharmacy.

A single vote covers both elements of the resolution.

“The proposed changes have been – and will continue to be – subject to a rigorous legal process. These changes reflect a modernised corporate structure, typical of Royal Colleges, and will give RPS flexibility to lead the profession through a complex and quickly changing landscape,” says the RPS.

“We remain in discussion with the Privy Council Office (PCO) and charity regulators about the exact scope of the changes, and the PCO reserves the right to propose changes up until Royal Assent is granted.”

Anyone wishing to take part in the vote must be a full member by 28 February 2025. No change to the RPS charter can take place without the vote, in which two-thirds of votes cast must be in support.

RPS President Professor Claire Anderson said: “The proposed Charter changes are designed to empower RPS to deliver on its strategy and ambitions as the professional leadership body for pharmacy. The modernised Charter will ensure we have the agility needed to represent and lead the profession through transformational change and into the future.”

Listen to RPS Scottish Pharmacy Board chair, Jonathan Burton, on why the time is right for a Royal College of Pharmacy.