The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPharmS or RPS) is the body responsible for the leadership and support of the

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

profession (pharmacists) within

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It was created along with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) in September 2010 when the previous Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain was split so that representative and regulatory functions of the pharmacy profession could be separated. Membership in the society is not a prerequisite for engaging in practice as a pharmacist within the United Kingdom. Its predecessor the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain was founded on 15 April 1841.

History

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society was founded on 15 April 1841 as the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, and headquartered at 17 Bloomsbury Square, London. Among its founding members were Jacob Bell and William Allen. The Northern British (Scottish) branch began the same year with nine founders including William Flockhart and John Duncan. From 1843, it had a royal charter that identified its chief objectives as the advancement of chemistry and pharmacy, the promotion of a system of education for its practitioners, and the legal protection of its members.

Headquarters

The headquarters of the society are on East Smithfield Road, located near

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

and

St Katharine Docks St Katharine Docks is a former dock in the St Katherine and Wapping ward of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies in the East End of London, East End on the north bank of the River Thames, immediately downstream of the Tower of London an ...

in London, UK. From 1976 until 2015 the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's headquarters was in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

on Lambeth High Street, London, UK.

Membership

The Society currently offers five categories of membership: * Member: Full membership is available to anyone who has ever been registered as a pharmacist in Great Britain, whether or not currently registered with the GPhC. * Fellow: Fellowship may be conferred by the Society’s Panel of Fellows on pharmacists who have been members of the Society for at least 12 years and who have been deemed to have made outstanding original contributions. * Associate: Associate membership is open to two categories of person: (a) those registered elsewhere in the world who have never been registered in Britain; (b) those who have a recognized degree in pharmacy but have not yet registered as a pharmacist in Britain, either because they are still undergoing their preregistration trainings or because they are not working in a field of practice that requires registration with the GPhC. * Student: Student membership is available to anyone studying for a degree in pharmacy at any institute recognized by the Society (in Britain or overseas). * Pharmaceutical Scientist: Pharmacist scientist membership is available to anyone with a degree (or equivalent) in a subject related to the pharmacy who has worked for at least two years in a recognized area of the pharmaceutical sciences.

President of the society

* 2021 Claire Anderson * 2019 Sandra Gidley * 2017 – 2019 Ash Soni * 2016 – 2017 Martin Astbury * 2014 – 2016 Ash Soni

Publishing

The Society operates two divisions of RPS Publishing: * The Pharmaceutical Press publishes textbooks on a wide range of topics in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences including the

British National Formulary The ''British National Formulary'' (BNF) is a United Kingdom (UK) pharmaceutical reference book that contains a wide spectrum of information and advice on prescribing and pharmacology, along with specific facts and details about many medicin ...

, the British National Formulary for Children and Martindale: The complete drug reference. * PJ Publications publishes the weekly professional journal '' The Pharmaceutical Journal'' and the monthly ''Clinical Pharmacist''.

Royal Pharmaceutical Society Museum

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain had a museum collection since 1842, which continues to be managed by the RPS at its offices in East Smithfield. A historical collection was established in 1937 and expanded in the 1940s–1960s by Agnes Lothian. The exhibits cover all aspects of British pharmacy history, and include: *Traditional dispensing equipment *Drug storage containers *Fine "Lambeth delftware" dating from the 17th and 18th centuries *Proprietary (brand name) medicines dating from the 18th century to the present day *Bronze mortars *Medical caricatures *A photo archive Since 2002, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has concentrated on developing the collection of historical and contemporary proprietary medicines. The museum is open to visitors and admission is free. Guided tours are available if booked in advance. In 1983 the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain donated over 10,000 historic specimens of materia medica, including crude drugs, herbarium sheets, and slides to the

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

. This material is now housed in the Economic Botany Collection (EBC) at Kew. The museum is a member of the London Museums of Health & Medicine.

Prizes and awards

The RPS has six academic and professional awards for pharmacists at different stages of their career. These are: *The Hanbury Medal *The Harrison Medal *Outstanding Pharmacy Early-career Researcher Award *RPS Charter Medals *RPS Fellowship and Honorary Fellowship *The Daniel Thomas Award

National Pharmacy Boards

The three boards provide professional leadership and advocacy support for pharmacy practice in England, Scotland and Wales respectively. They are currently chaired by Thorrun Govind, Andrew Carruthers and Cheryl Way respectively. The members of the boards are elected by the members of the society, but the members of the assembly are not. The members of the assembly are elected by members of the boards. The assembly is senior to the boards in terms of policy making.

References

External links

Official WebsitePJ Online Official WebsiteUniversities to study medicine in nigeriaPharmaceutical Press Official WebsiteRoyal Pharmaceutical Society Museum
{{Authority control Medical and health organisations based in London Medical museums in London Organizations established in 2010 Pharmacy organisations in the United Kingdom 2010 establishments in the United Kingdom