Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) is the statutory regulatory and professional body for pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians in England, Scotland and Wales. Its headquarters are at 1, Lambeth High Street, in the London Borough of Lambeth, there are also offices in Cardiff and Edinburgh.

1 Statutory Role
2 History
3 Publishing
4 Royal Pharmaceutical Society Museum
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Statutory Role

The primary objective of the RPSGB is to lead, regulate, develop and promote the pharmaceutical profession. All pharmacists in Great Britain (approximately 44,000) must be registered with the Society. The Society is unusual amongst healthcare regulators in that it has its own inspectorate. To become a member of the Society an individual must usually have completed a MPharm or (before 1997) a BPharm or BSc (pharmacy) degree, 45 weeks of pre-registration training and pass the registration examination. This gives them the right to use the title MRPharmS (Member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society) and those who are on the society's register may practise as pharmacists in Great Britain. Fellowships (FRPharmS) may also be awarded. RPSGB is currently subject to controversy over its plans to increase the cost of registration by 50%.

[edit] History

The Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain was founded on April 15, 1841 by William Allen FRS, Jacob Bell, Daniel Hanbury, John Bell and other London chemists and druggists, at a meeting in the Crown and Anchor Tavern, Strand, London. William Allen was its first President, and the society quickly took premises at 17 Bloomsbury Square, London where a School of Pharmacy was established in which botany and materia medica were an important part of the students’ curriculum. In 1843, Queen Victoria granted the Society its Royal Charter. In 1988, Queen Elizabeth II agreed that the title "Royal" should be granted to the society.

Currently, the Government is in the process of moving the regulation of Pharmacy staff into line with that of other health care professionals. The RPSGB's role as professional body and regulator of the profession will be delegated to two different organisations.

[edit] Publishing

The society also operates the two divisions of RPS Publishing;-

The Pharmaceutical Press which publishes textbooks, and
PJ Publications, which publishes the weekly professional journal The Pharmaceutical Journal and the monthly Hospital Pharmacist.

[edit] Royal Pharmaceutical Society Museum

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has had a museum collection since 1842. The exhibits cover all aspects of British pharmacy history, and include:

Traditional dispensing equipment.
Drug storage containers.
Fine "Lambeth delftware" dating from the 1600s and 1700s.
Proprietary (brand name) medicines dating from the 1700s to the present day.
Bronze mortars.
Medical caricatures.
A photo archive.

Since 2002 the Society has concentrated on developing the collection of historical and contemporary proprietary medicines. The museum may be visited by appointment.

The museum is a member of the London Museums of Health & Medicine.