The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is the regulatory body for Pharmacy professionals and premises in the UK. Their key roles are to protect the public and to drive improvement in the profession. They do this in a number of ways:
This page highlights some useful resources for pharmacy teams.
Revalidation
In 2017, the GPhC changed the way that Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians retain their registration each year. Registrants are now required to undergo a mandatory revalidation process each year, which helps to show the public that the trust that people have in the profession is well placed.
This involves each pharmacy professional submitting CPD records and other reflective accounts before they are able to renew their registration. Feedback so far has shown that this is a straightforward exercise and is generally preferred to the previous arrangements.
Find out more about Revalidation
Regulate
Regulate is the GPhC’s regular news publication for registrants, covering latest news and developments.
Standards
The GPhC set the standards for conduct, ethics and performance which describe the behaviours, attitudes and values expected of pharmacy professionals and services. They inform the basis of premises inspections, help the profession to gauge performance and also inform patients and the public of the standards that they can expect of pharmacy professionals. The standards for initial education and training of pharmacy professionals are also laid down by the GPhC.
Each set of standards is supported by specific guidance for areas of practice that professionals may require additional support in applying the standards to – for example, guidance is provided on how to interpret the standards when it comes to religion, personal values and beliefs in relation to the provision of pharmacy services.
Read current GPhC standards and guidance
Community pharmacy inspections
Following a consultation exercise, the GPhC have changed their approach to inspecting registered premises. For the most part, the content of individual inspections will not look much different than those which are carried out now, but the main changes will be:
There are several useful resources made available by the GPhC here. The decision-making framework is particularly useful tool to help you think about your operations from an inspector’s point of view.
We will add more information on inspections here as it becomes available.
Decision Making Framework
The decision-making framework is particularly useful tool to help you think about your operations from an inspector’s point of view.
GPhC Standards
You can find all of the GPhC’s current standards and guidance here.