Current Governing Documents
Gazette Notice - Amendments to Regulations following November 2023 Assembly
At the meeting held on 22nd November 2023, Assembly Members agreed in the open business session that the imbalance in the election places currently existing in all three National Pharmacy Boards across the three year cycle (created when changes were made to term lengths during the COVID-19 pandemic) will now be re-set back to a more even split across the years. As a result the length of the terms of office for the various Board places in 2024 will be amended (nb - the changes do not affect the number of places for election in 2024).
The following amendments to the Society’s Regulations will therefore take effect from 1st February 2024. Any member who wishes to comment to the Assembly on the changes is asked to do so by 26th January 2024. Comments should be sent to [email protected]
Regulation 7.4.2 - National Pharmancy Board Terms of Office will be amended as follows (additions in italics):
The period of office of members elected to the National Pharmacy Boards shall be three years (with the exception in 2021 of any Board Members whose term of office originally expired in 2020 but was extended by 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, whose term of office upon re-election in 2021 shall be two years) with the following exceptions in 2024:
- in England the first 5 candidates elected shall serve for three years and the remaining 3 candidates elected shall serve for two years;
- in Scotland the first 4 candidates elected shall serve for three years and the remaining 4 candidates elected shall serve for two years;
- in Wales the Primary Care candidate elected, the first Hospital candidate elected, the first Community candidate elected and the first Any Sector candidate elected shall serve for three years and the remaining Hospital, Community and Any Sector candidates elected shall serve for two years
in order to address the imbalance that arose in the number of places for election each year on the National Pharmacy Boards due to changes in terms of office made during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
Terms of office shall expire at midnight on the day before the effective date detailed in the Election Scheme in the relevant year.
Gazette Notice - Amendments to Regulations following November 2022 Assembly
At the meeting held on 16 November 2022, Assembly members agreed amendments to the Society's Regulations to clarify various aspects of delegated authority. Regulations 13 & 15 will therefore be amended as follows (addition to Regulation indicated in red):
Regulation 13 INVESTMENTS
…The Assembly may also appoint a Finance and/or Investment Committee which will report directly to the Assembly on all matters. Any such Committee(s) will not be responsible for any oversight of commercial investment opportunities in membership or Pharmaceutical Press activities, which shall remain the sole remit of the Assembly.
Authority is delegated to the Executive Team to act on the investment decisions taken at FIC. At least two signatures are required.
Regulation 15 FINANCIAL INSTRUCTIONS & EXECUTION OF DOCUMENTS
…A simple contract (ie a contract which is not a deed) can be signed on behalf of the Society by a single signatory provided they have express or implied authority. The Authorised Signatories List shall set out who has authority to sign contracts on behalf of the Society.
Operational financial matters, such as completion and submission of bank mandates and the making of bank payments, are delegated to the Executive Team who will report any changes to such Mandates to Assembly.
Any member who wishes to comment to the Assembly on the changes is asked to do so by 23rd January 2023. Comments should be sent to [email protected]. The amended Regulations will take effect from 1st February 2023.
Gazette Notice - Amendments to Regulations following November 2021 Assembly
At the meeting held on 17 November 2021, Assembly members agreed a number of amendments to the Society's Regulations to clarify distinctions between Pharmaceutical Press & Pharmaceutical Press Ltd and other aspects of PhP governance. The relevant amended Regulations are provided here, along with an outline summary of the rationale for the change. The amended Regulations will take effect from 1st February 2022.
Any member who wishes to comment to the Assembly on the changes is asked to do so by 21 January 2022. Comments should be sent to [email protected].
Gazette Notice - Amendments to Regulations following July 2021 Assembly
Fellowship
At the meeting held on 14 July 2021, Assembly members agreed that the existing requirement for an individual to have been a Member of the Society for at least 12 years before being eligible for Fellowship should be removed. The following amendment to the Society’s Regulations will therefore take effect from 1 October 2021:
Regulation 2.1 - Categories of membership will be amended as follows:
(b) Fellows - may use the designatory letters FRPharmS after their name
To be eligible for Fellowship of the Society an individual must be a Member of the Society adjudged by the Panel of Fellows as having made an outstanding original contribution to the advancement of pharmaceutical knowledge or attained distinction in the science, practice, profession or history of pharmacy.
Postnominals
At the same meeting, Assembly members agreed that individuals who have successfully been credentialed by the Society would be permitted to add a descriptor to their RPS post-nominals. The following amendment to the Society’s Regulations will therefore take effect from 1 October 2021 (addition in italics):
Regulation 2.1 - Categories of membership will be amended as follows (addition in italics):
The Society shall have the following categories of membership and any such other categories as are established by Special Resolution of the Society. The requirements for admission to, or transfer to membership of any category shall, subject to the provisions of the Charter and these Regulations, be determined by the Assembly and shall be administered on their behalf by the Membership Committee.
Within all the following categories of membership the designated postnominal letters may be followed by such additional designated ‘descriptor’ postnominals as the Society may, from time to time, authorise. Details of such ‘descriptor’ postnominals shall be listed in Appendix J of these Regulations.
Any member who wishes to comment to the Assembly on the changes is asked to do so by 17 September 2021. Comments should be sent to [email protected].
Gazette Notice - 2021 National Pharmacy Board Elections Terms of Office
At the meeting held on 18 November 2020, Assembly members agreed that any National Pharmacy Board Member whose term of office had originally expired In June 2020, but was then extended for a further year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, should, if elected to the Board in 2021 only serve a term of office of two years.
The following amendments to the Society’s Regulations will therefore take effect from 1 February 2021. Any member who wishes to comment to the Assembly on the changes is asked to do so by 26 January 2021. Comments should be sent to [email protected].
Regulation 7.4.2 will be amended as follows (addition in italics):
The period of office of members elected to the National Pharmacy Boards shall be three years with the exception in 2021 of any Board Members whose term of office originally expired in 2020 but was extended by 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, whose term of office upon re-election in 2021 shall be two years; and expire at midnight on the day before the effective date detailed in the Election Scheme in the third year after they were elected.
Gazette Notice - Term Limits for National Pharmacy Board Members
At the meeting held on 15 July, RPS Assembly agreed that National Pharmacy Board members should only be permitted to serve in office as a National Board member for a maximum of three consecutive terms of office, with a single term of office remaining at the current length of three years. After three consecutive terms, a break of one term will now be required before an individual can stand for election again to the same National Board.
The current terms for all serving National Pharmacy Board members will be deemed to be the first term of the possible three, and all current National Board members will only be eligible to stand for a maximum of two further terms before they are required to take a break of one term if they wished to stand again to the same Board.
The following amendments to the Society’s Regulations will therefore take effect from 1 October. Any member who wishes to comment to the Assembly on the changes is asked to do so by 18 September. Comments should be sent to [email protected].
Regulation 7.4.2 will be amended as follows (addition in italics):
The period of office of members elected to the National Pharmacy Boards shall be three years; and expire at midnight on the day before the effective date detailed in the Election Scheme in the third year after they were elected.
A member is only permitted to serve in office as a National Board member for a maximum of three consecutive terms of office. After three consecutive terms, a break of one term is required before an individual can stand for election again to the same National Board.
The current terms for all serving National Pharmacy Board members in office in 2020 will be deemed to be the first term of the possible three, and all National Board members in office in 2020 will only be eligible to stand for a maximum of two further terms before they are required to take a break of one term if they wished to stand again to the same Board…
Regulation 7.6 will be amended as follows (addition in italics):
A member of a National Board shall cease to be a member of the National Pharmacy Board in question:
…(e) (i) on failing to be re-elected as a Board member at the appropriate point (appointment shall terminate automatically, on the specified effective date)
(ii) on reaching the end of the third consecutive term of office as a Board member, at which point a break from office of one term must occur before serving any further term(s) on that same Board (see Reg 7.4.2.for those in office during 2020)…
Gazette Notice - 2020 National Pharmacy Board Elections
The process for elections to the national pharmacy boards for 2020 was launched on 13 March, with the opening of nominations. These are due to close on 3 April. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic is now established in the UK there is considerable concern that, with pharmacists expending all their energy on working to help combat this fast-moving crisis and support patients and members of the public, an election would be a diversion from the key priority of the nation and the profession, and it would be inappropriate to divert them from this.
Holding an election at this extraordinarily difficult time, which would require any member of the society who would like to stand to have to complete a lengthy nomination process then canvas for support amongst the electorate, is not felt to be appropriate, either for our members or for the various members of the staff team who would be required to work on the related communications and member engagement activities to support the election process thereby taking them away from critical work around COVID-19.
Given the exceptional and unprecedented global and national circumstances, assembly have consequently decided to take the emergency executive action below:
The 2020 election scheme will be withdrawn and the national pharmacy board elections for 2020 will be cancelled.
Those board members whose terms of office would come to an end in June will be granted an extension of one year to their term.
The board members affected are:
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English Pharmacy Board
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Scottish Pharmacy Board
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Welsh Pharmacy Board
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Martin Astbury *
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Jonathan Burton *
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Robert Davies
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Sandra Gidley *
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Alasdair Macintyre
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Richard Evans
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Ash Soni *
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Ailsa Power
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Paul Harris
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Mahendra Patel *
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Deborah Stafford
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Suzanne Scott-Thomas *
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Should these members chose to stand for election in 2021, and be successfully returned for a further term of office, it is anticipated they would choose to step down from office one year early in 2023 (when their term of office would have come to an end had they been re-elected in 2020) rather than serving the full three years.
As the term of office on their respective national board for six of the assembly members comes to an end in June, indicated by * in the list above, these members were specifically excluded from the decision-making process and the final decision was taken solely by the remaining eight assembly members.
Members wishing to comment on the above should email the relevant returning officer by 26 May.
Returning officer for England: [email protected]
Returning officer for Scotland: [email protected]
Returning officer for Wales: [email protected]