Sophie Willis / The Pharmaceutical Journal
The Royal College of Pharmacy will lead to improved collaboration and governance in the sector, according to David Webb, chief pharmaceutical officer for England.
During a keynote address at the Clinical Pharmacy Congress, held in London on 9 May 2025, Webb told delegates that the recent Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) membership vote in favour of becoming a royal college “will facilitate and open up opportunities for greater collaboration and provide more effective governance”, including the involvement of an independent chair and other non-pharmacy professionals in the charity.
Webb added that the coming year will be “incredibly important” in terms of establishing perceptions about the royal college as a professional leadership body.
“We all want to see a distinct and fresh approach to enable pharmacists to work with a confident leadership, setting out an attractive offer and developing a shared understanding to enable a more collaborative approach,” he said.
The royal college and the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK) “need to address the question of pharmacy technician membership at an early opportunity”.
In March 2025, RPS members voted in favour of the RPS’s royal college proposals during a special resolution vote.
Of the 6,144 votes cast, 4,369 (71.1%) RPS members were in favour of the proposals, with 1,775 members (28.9%) not in favour of the resolution. A two-thirds majority in favour was needed for the proposals to go ahead.
The RPS has said it now aims to complete transition to a royal college by spring 2026.
Commenting on the chief pharmaceutical officer’s speech, Claire Anderson, president of the RPS, said: “We welcome the strong support from all the chief pharmaceutical officers for our transition to becoming a royal college.
“[The] RPS recognises and respects the APTUK as the professional leadership body for pharmacy technicians in the UK, and we are open to a future discussion with [the] APTUK about ways we can come together in terms of professional leadership, and with an understanding of pharmacy technicians as fellow pharmacy professionals under the same regulator. Any discussions held in the future would of course need to be collaborative and involve appropriate consultation and agreement on all sides.
“Discussions between the two professional bodies (RPS and APTUK), would be the starting point for any such conversations in the future — but it would also be vital to ensure the support of members of both organisations for any proposed future changes. In the case of [the] RPS, and as the future Royal College of Pharmacy, a special resolution vote of our members would be required in order to create new categories of full members.
“In the meantime, we are keen to continue to build relationships and work more closely with [the] APTUK and with specialist pharmacy groups in terms of future opportunities.”
More information about the royal college changes can be found on the RPS website.
