Speaking at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) annual conference last week (November 7), PCPA president Dr Graham Stretch told delegates that while being an RPS member is “part of [his] identity”, his trainees “don’t feel that way”.
“I can’t ever imagine not being part of the RPS, but my trainees don’t feel that way - they don’t really see the point of it,” he said.
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Stretch made the comments during a discussion on the RPS’s transition to a royal college – which is due to take place next spring – arguing that pharmacists need to “see the value” in becoming a college member.
He said that the body needs to think about “what value [it] can offer to pharmacists who don’t really engage in the wider professional activity in the industry”.
“They just go into work and do their jobs, they help their patients - and it’s those people that we need to engage with, include [and] make sure they see the value,” he added.
“Introductory” membership discount
Stretch also stressed that the cost of a college membership could present a “barrier” for pharmacists, mooting the idea of an “introductory discount” for new members.
“Value also means value for money, there’s no escaping that - and if our college is going to cost us 300-or-so pounds, that’s going to be a barrier,” he said.
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The RPS “perhaps should consider whether or not [it] can - at least in the first year or so - offer an introductory discount”, he added.
“Let’s get people involved and then work really, really hard - and that includes all of our organisations - so that we can get them to stay and see why it is that they want to be part of this,” Stretch said.
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It comes after the RPS last week launched its first-ever “workforce wellbeing survey” focusing on pharmacy students, foundation trainees and early career pharmacists.
The survey, launched in partnership with Pharmacist Support, the British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (BPSA) and the Pharmacy Schools Council (PhSC), aims to “better understand” students’ and early career pharmacists’ “mental health, wellbeing and expectations of workplace support”, it said.
