The RPSGB will drop ‘Great Britain’ from its name to be renamed the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in the spring, the Society’s president has said.
However, the number of pharmacists it would need to be credible and the fee that members will pay are yet to be revealed.
The name change will remove the “superfluous” Great Britain while still retaining the right to use ‘Royal’, Society president Steve Churton told C+D exclusively.
The Society’s branding, including its logo, would also change to “put some clear blue water” between the old and new organisations, Mr Churton added.
“[The logo] is a departure from where we are now, in terms of look and feel. It’s more contemporary, modern, but it retains elements of the heritage for those people for whom that’s important,” he said.
Mr Churton said the Society was still on course to form the professional leadership following the handover of regulation to the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), expected to be in April.
The Society will employ 80 to 100 people and its chief executive will be named in the new year, Mr Churton added.
However, Mr Churton refused to be tied down on the number of members needed to join the professional leadership body, but said a high proportion of membership was essential for the organisation to have credibility.
“It wouldn’t have credibility if it represented 10 per cent of members, it would if it had 70, 80, 90 per cent,” Mr Churton added.
When asked about membership fees, Mr Churton said they could be inferred through a consultation by the GPhC. The Society has previously pledged the combined fees for both the RPS and GPhC will not exceed the current Society membership fee.