Lambeth contractor Ash Soni has been elected president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), the society announced yesterday (July 22), and has taken up his position immediately.

The RPS Assembly voted in the English Pharmacy Board member and OBE recipient in a move that will see current president Martin Astbury step down after four years in the position.

Mr Soni pledged to "take every opportunity" to promote pharmacy to other healthcare professions and the public as president.

"This is a hugely exciting time for the profession, with many changes and innovations underway," he said. "The RPS is the champion of the whole profession and I feel immensely privileged to be leading the organisation at this time."

Mr Soni also vowed to raise the profile of professional recognition programme the RPS Faculty, launched under Mr Astbury's leadership, by partnering with the General Pharmaceutical Council. He set out hopes for the Faculty to become a "cornerstone" of the revalidation checks, scheduled come into force in 2018.

Mr Soni has sat on a number of pharmacy organisations throughout his career as a contractor, including the National Pharmacy Association, NHS Lambeth and the NHS Future Forum, and was awarded an OBE for his services to community pharmacy and the NHS in January.

His predecessor Mr Astbury led the RPS through its transition from regulator to professional body in 2010. He worked to rebrand the organisation as an "influential voice" of the profession and was vocal on a number of issues affecting pharmacy such as P medicine self-selection.

1.Promote pharmacy

Pharmacists should be the first port of call for medicines advice, stressed Mr Soni. He pledged to raise the profile of pharmacy "whenever and wherever" the opportunity arose and pointed out that pharmacists should be featured more in the media. "It shouldn't be doctors who appear on TV to talk about medicines first, it should be pharmacists," he said.

2. Build relationships within the profession

Mr Soni vowed to be an "inclusive" RPS president and said the different strands of the pharmacy profession should work together more: "I'm a proud community pharmacy owner, but I'm equally proud of the work in hospitals, academia and the various roles pharmacy has across the whole healthcare system."

3. Gain royal college status

"The RPS is recognised as a royal college in all but name," Mr Soni said. "I will campaign for progress in this area as I believe we should be a royal college."

4. Push the RPS faculty

Mr Soni said there was a "steady increase" in interest in the RPS Faculty, but many members were still unsure of the benefits. He set out plans to work with the General Pharmaceutical Council to make the Faculty an integrated part of professional standards, suggesting that Faculty status could be used for revalidation and ensuring consistent standards in pre-reg tutors.

	Do you think Mr Soni is focusing on the correct priorities as president of the RPS?