Royal Society for Public Health


The Royal Society for Public Health is an independent, multi-disciplinary charity dedicated to the improvement of the public’s health
RSPH 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 its current president is Professor Lord Patel of Bradford; current vice presidents are Natasha Kaplinsky OBE and Michael Sheen OBE. 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 Sanitary Institute was established in 1876 following the landmark Public Health Act of 1875. In 1904, it was tagged Royal Sanitary Institute which name it held until 1955. The Sanitary Institute 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 Sanitary Institute became the leading public health organization both in the United Kingdom 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.
In 1955, the name was changed to Royal Society of Health. 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.
The RSPH was formed with the merger of the Royal Society of Health and the Royal Institute of Public Health in October 2008, under the previous Chief Executive, Professor Richard Parish, CBE. The Royal Society of Health was also known as the Royal Society for the Promotion of 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, multi-disciplinary perspectives on current health questions.

Membership

RSPH has a membership of over 6,500 public health professionals, with representation from over 90 countries worldwide, 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 or with an interest in it. It is a widely recognised mark of commitment to public health and brings real professional benefits.
There are four grades of RSPH membership, each aimed at supporting public health professionals at the different stages of their careers: Student; Associate ; Member ; and Fellow.

Qualifications

RSPH provides a wide range of vocationally related qualifications that are directly relevant to the workplace and national health priorities. Around 50,000 students qualify through a network of UK-wide registered training centres in qualifications in the following subjects:
Recognised and regulated to award accredited qualifications by the Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator, Qualifications Wales and the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment, RSPH is widely acknowledged for its high level of quality assurance, stability, experience and expertise.

Conferences and training

RSPH hosts an annual programme of conferences, webinars, events and training in subjects including water hygiene, infection control, food safety and mental wellbeing. RSPH also runs a two-week intensive preparation course for the Faculty of Occupational Medicine's Diploma exam.

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 three accreditation services: one for campaigns, one for training programmes and one for university modules, which are either in-house or provided by third sector organisations. The common theme is 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.
RSPH 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 campaigns include:
RSPH works with a range of national and regional partners to develop, support and implement programmes and initiatives aimed at supporting the public’s health and wellbeing.
RSPH's key programmes include:
RSPH publishes two widely respected peer-reviewed journals on public health, Perspectives in Public Health and Public Health.