The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) is remaining tight lipped about its membership numbers following the March 1 renewal deadline.

At the end of March last year, the RPS reported that more than half of practising pharmacists in the UK had joined, but this year it told C+D it would not be releasing membership figures until June.

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	"As we will know our full membership figures in June, that's when we think is the best time to update everyone," said RPS head of corporate communications Neal Patel. The comments came after Boots and the Co-operative Pharmacy both confirmed they had decided to cut their contributions towards their employees' RPS membership costs.

The Co-operative, which part funded employees' RPS fees last year, has withdrawn completely from reimbursing membership, while Boots is to pay 50 per cent of the cost for employees wanting to join the RPS.

Asda and Lloydspharmacy both confirmed that once again they would not be covering RPS costs for employees, while Tesco declined to comment on the matter.

 Day Lewis said it would be paying for its employees' RPS membership in full again this year, but warned that it expected to see tangible benefits if this was to continue.

CEO Kirit Patel said Day Lewis was meeting with the RPS every quarter to see how it could derive financial benefits as "next year our decision will be solely based on return on our investment and not just political support".

Pharmacists posting on C+D's website expressed mixed views, but multiples stressed they did support the RPS.

"We believe a strong professional leadership body will support our people and all pharmacists to become and remain the best professionals possible," said Boots UK professional standards director and superintendent pharmacist Paul Bennett.

The RPS said it had been "really pleased" with renewals. "Although we encourage members to renew by March 1 to maximise their access to member benefits, there is a grace period  until the end of May before we would consider membership has definitely lapsed," said Mr Patel.