GPhC having the power for sanctions against pharmacists – There have been many talks of the law changing to allow regulators more power when it comes to sanctioning pharmacists. Just this week the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has announced its plan to define the roles of responsible pharmacists (RPs), superintendent pharmacists (SPs) and chief pharmacists due to this law change, allowing them to act faster when pharmacists fail to meet the required standards and regulation. The change in law means that the pharmacy regulators have the power instead of the government under the current legislation whereby ministers have the authority to raise action against pharmacists.
Due to the law change, GPhC will have the power to redefine the roles of pharmacists including the superintendent role, responsible pharmacist and chief pharmacist from the 1st of December.
The new law will allow GPhC to take action faster when pharmacist in these roles do not meet the standards ie. Fitness to practice issues will be dealt in a quicker manner than currently seen. Currently, fitness to practice can take a few years to be dealt with as the they go through criminal sanctions. The change in law will be in favour of the regulators to be able to regulate and respond to the pharmacists better and to changes in pharmacy practice The law change means that GPhC will need to engage with many bodies on what their new expectations and redefined roles – such as other healthcare professionals, the NHS, the public and the wider health sector. This will allow the launch of a full implementation of the new rules and standards for responsible and superintendent pharmacists. With this new change, the GPhC will need to ensure they support and develop the pharmacists on how to comply with the new expectations and regulations.