Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) members have voted with ‘an overwhelming majority’ to rejoin the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), after the organisation decided not to renew its membership earlier this year.

Commenting on the decision made by the RPS Assembly, which sets its strategic direction, financial management and organisational governance, RPS president Professor Claire Anderson said that she was ‘delighted’ that the RPS would be applying to re-join FIP ‘at a time when they are set to re-focus their membership offer’.

‘A big thank you to everyone who shared their views with us on this subject. The overwhelming majority of you agreed that RPS should re-join FIP, which we propose to do in January 2023 subject to FIP’s agreement,’ she added.

In March, the RPS announced that it would not renew its membership of FIP, sparking complaints about a lack of transparency in the organisation’s decision making.

Ms Anderson later explained that the decision was ‘financially motivated’ and said that having discussions around the organisation’s FIP membership in private was ‘the wrong call’.

In today’s update, the RPS committed to greater transparency, saying that it would record the open business section of Assembly meetings. Ms Anderson said that this would increase transparency and accountability, as well as making meetings more accessible and increase engagement.

She added that the RPS would ‘better promote our member numbers in total, inclusive of all our membership sectors, to bring us in line with other pharmacy and Royal College membership organisations and increase accountability of the actions taken to grow our membership community’.

More discussion items would be included in open business, and that the ‘headline’ of confidential agenda items would be published, she also said.

The RPS also committed to amend its Conflicts of Interests, Gifts & Hospitality policy in order to ‘provide improved clarity for members to review elected members’ declarations of interest’.

Ms Anderson also said that the RPS would change its support of wellbeing charity Pharmacist Support from a donation made on behalf of members to allowing members to donate individual when joining or renewing their RPS membership.

She said that ‘historically, the RPS has set great store by supporting what has now become Pharmacist Support’, giving over £4.1m, and that it wanted to ‘continue to support this charity’.