The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPharmS or RPS) is the body responsible for the leadership and support of the pharmacy profession (pharmacists) within England, Scotland, and Wales. 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 and St Katharine Docks in London, UK. From 1976 until 2015 the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's headquarters was in Lambeth on Lambeth High Street, London, UK.

Membership

The Society currently offers five categories of membership:

President of the society

Publishing

The Society operates two divisions of RPS Publishing:

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. The exhibits cover all aspects of British pharmacy history, and include: 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. 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:

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.