Royal Society for Public Health
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) is an independent, multi-disciplinary charity in Great Britain dedicated to the improvement of the public’s health and wellbeing. Formed in October 2008 with the merger of the Royal Society of Health and the Royal Institute of Public Health, it helps inform policy and practice, working to educate, empower and support communities and individuals to live healthily. Its vision is that everyone has the opportunity to optimise their health and wellbeing.
RSPH's Chief Executive is Shirley Cramer CBE, while the current president is Lord Hunt of King's Heath; current vice presidents are Baroness Cumberlege, Baroness Massey of Darwen, and Lord Patel of Bradford. It has a Royal Charter, with Her Majesty the Queen as its Patron, and is governed by a Council of Trustees, all of whom are RSPH members.
History
The Royal Society of Health, also known as the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, was established in 1876 following the landmark Public Health Act of 1875. Previously known as the Sanitary Institute (1876-1904) and the Royal Sanitary Institute (1904–55), it was created during a period of great change within the areas of public health provision and sanitary reform to which it contributed significantly.
During its first fifty years, the Society became the leading public health organization both in Great Britain and the rest of the world. It was soon renowned for events and conferences on pioneering and topical issues, and developed qualifications for people working in public health professions. By the 1950s, the Society was a leading authority in its field, and was regularly consulted by governments and the international press on health-related issues. Since the 1970s, the Society has focused its activities on the most successful areas of its work - examinations, certification, and the journals Public Health and Perspectives in Public Health.
Today, RSPH is the longest-established public health organisation in the United Kingdom. It is incorporated by Royal Charter completely independent of government and of any special interest. Members are academics, health professionals and practitioners who share an interest in promoting health through their daily work, and come together through RSPH membership to provide cross-cutting, multidisciplinary perspectives on current health questions.
Membership
RSPH has a membership of over 6,000 public health professionals encompassing a wide range of sectors and roles including health promotion, medicine, environmental health and food safety trainers.
Membership is open to anyone working in the area of public health. It is a widely recognised mark of commitment to public health and brings real professional benefits. Members of the RSPH are entitled to use the poso-nomonal MRSPH, and fellows are entitled to FRSPH.
Qualifications
RSPH provides a wide range of vocationally related qualifications that are directly relevant to the workplace and national health priorities. Around 100,000 students qualify through a network of UK-wide registered training centres in qualifications such as pest control, hygiene and food safety.
Recognised and regulated to award accredited qualifications by the Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual), RSPH is widely acknowledged for its high level of quality assurance, stability, experience and expertise.
Conferences and training
RSPH hosts a wide range of conferences, seminars, events and training in water hygiene, infection control, mental wellbeing and occupational medicine and more.
Accreditation
RSPH has been running accreditation services continuously since 1904, endorsing products, services and more recently campaigns, which contribute to improvements in hygiene, public health and safety.
It has two accreditation services, one for campaigns and one for training programmes which are either in-house or provided by third sector organisations. The common theme is that both services are concerned with maintaining high standards of hygiene, public health and safety.
Campaigning
Public health encompasses all aspects of health protection and health promotion and this is reflected throughout RSPH's projects, policy work, reports and campaigns. It is dedicated to raising awareness of issues that affect the public's health and, through high profile campaigns, it draws attention to particular issues, calling a wide range of organisations, local authorities and government to make changes that will improve health and wellbeing for all.
Recent such campaigns have focused on reducing tobacco use and promoting safer forms of nicotine, how high street businesses can affect health, and calorie labelling for alcohol.