The PDA’s principal statutory objective now becomes:
‘To safeguard, maintain the honour, and promote the interests of pharmacists in the exercise of their profession.’
This statutory objective used to be the principal chartered objective of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, but it is one that the Royal College, because it has become a charity, can no longer use.
The PDA believes that ‘to safeguard, maintain the honour, and promote the interests of pharmacists in the exercise of their profession’ is an objective that must always remain as a principal focus of a major pharmacy organisation that can serve the interests of pharmacists long into the future. By adopting this historic chartered objective, the PDA makes clear what the complementary roles of the two organisations will be.
The new Royal College charter reflects a significant evolution in the pharmacy leadership landscape. With that change comes a different constitutional focus for the Royal College leadership, centred on public interest, education, and standards. These aims are necessary and laudable, but they also provide a significant clarification as to where the emphasis of the Royal College must now be.
The PDA provides a different type of leadership, one that operates at the point where decisions have personal, professional, employment and patient consequences. These situations occur when pharmacy policy, standards and systems are experienced in day-to-day practice. The PDA provides leadership by supporting pharmacists when they face pressure to compromise professional judgement, when patient safety and workplace realities collide, or when regulatory and employment risks arise.
More than 40,000 members trust its leadership, making it the largest pharmacy organisation in the UK. The PDA has unmatched experience and expertise, which it will apply to professional advocacy and leadership. It will act in a purposeful way to safeguard, maintain the honour, and promote the interests of pharmacists in the exercise of their profession.
The PDA will never seek to duplicate the role of a Royal College, being already committed exclusively to this ‘pharmacist first’ purpose for some considerable time, the PDA will now seek to further enhance its role in this area.
Background
The first Royal Charter was awarded to the then Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain by Queen Victoria in the 1800’s, a subsequent amendment around 100 years later contained the wording to safeguard, maintain the honour, and promote the interests of pharmacists in their exercise of the profession of pharmacy.
This object has previously meant that the RPS had a duty to primarily act in the interests of pharmacists, and not the public at large.
However, the RPS transitioning into a Royal College of Pharmacy means that it must now act as a public interest charity and will be regulated by the Charity Commission. As a charitable organisation it has not been able to retain its ‘pharmacists first’ object within its constitution. It is now legally and constitutionally required to primarily always act in the public interest, its pharmacist representative activities becoming merely incidental to its principal public interest role. The Royal College also seeks to broaden its membership base to include non-pharmacists.
The ‘pharmacist interest’ object has been replaced instead with a new one which states:
The objects of the College shall be for the public benefit.
PDA Chairman, Mark Koziol said:
“The transition of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society into a Royal College reflects a deliberate and significant evolution in the professional leadership landscape for pharmacy, turning the Royal College into a public interest body. However, the need for pharmacist‑first support in day‑to‑day practice has not diminished and continues to grow.
The PDA has always existed to provide leadership and support to protect pharmacists’ interests and has a powerful track record of supporting them in real‑world practice, when their professional judgement is tested, their actions are scrutinised, and their careers are on the line.
So, as the pharmacy professional leadership landscape evolves, the PDA takes great pride in adopting the old charter objective to safeguard, maintain the honour, and promote the interests of pharmacists in the exercise of their profession.
With renewed vigour and a clarification of who leads what in the profession, we will now develop this ‘pharmacist first’ role even further and continue to ensure that practising pharmacists have a dedicated, independent organisation. One with a constitution focused solely upon representing their interests, supporting their professional judgement, and defending their reputation through the realities of modern practice.”
This step is not a criticism of the new Royal College, but a recognition that the Royal College’s new role is broader, non-pharmacist specific, system‑facing and constitutionally centred on public‑interest obligations.
In an evolving professional landscape, the PDA remains focused on what pharmacists need most urgently: protection, independence, and support with their employment needs and when professional judgement matters.
Mark Koziol continued:
“There are more than 80,000 episodes in which the PDA has, over many years focused upon looking after the interests of pharmacists, so the adoption by the PDA of this important object simply codifies what the PDA already does, further clarifying the difference between the PDA and the Royal College.
Our leadership is about standing behind pharmacists when those standards are applied under pressure. The PDA’s history is grounded in extensive experience of supporting pharmacists in real cases, real dilemmas, and real outcomes. This helps them to practise safely, with confidence and integrity.
We will cherish this statutory object, which clarifies our role even further and develop it in a way that drives benefits for pharmacists and for the profession into the future.”
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