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The latest inspection report of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) revealed that nine pharmacies did not meet their standards out of 52 pharmacies that were inspected between January 2023 and May 2023. Pharmacies are inspected on five principles - Governance, Staff, Premises, Services including medicines management and Equipment and facilities. Out of nine, eight pharmacies did not meet GPhC standard of governance which is defined to safeguard the health, safety and wellbeing of patients and the public. Six pharmacies did not meet the GPhC standard of principle four which defines the way in which pharmacy services, including the management of medicines and medical devices, are delivered safeguards the health, safety and wellbeing of patients and the public. The purpose of these standards is to create and maintain the right environment, both organisational and physical, for the safe and effective practice of pharmacy. The standards apply to all pharmacies registered with GPhC.

The General Pharmaceutical Council is appointing a new Chief Pharmacy Officer to strengthen the professional voice within the senior leadership team. This introduction is aimed at fostering a culture of enterprise leadership, inclusion and collaboration within the organisation, GPhC said in a statement. According to GPhC, the Chief Pharmacy Officer will serve as the authoritative representative of the pharmacy regulator in public, within the pharmacy professions, and increasingly in multi-disciplinary teams and collaborative regulatory work. "They will act as the executive lead on pharmacy inspection and regulatory insight, providing professional leadership within the GPhC and collaborating closely with pharmacist and pharmacy technician colleagues across the organisation." The Chief Pharmacy Officer, reporting to the Chief Executive and Registrar, will hold the highest professional position within the GPhC executive, providing pharmacy leadership across the organisation, GPhC said.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has revealed it has received 25 whistleblowing disclosures between April 2021 and March 2022. The pharmacy regulator said, in its annual report, that it has concluded enquiries on 22 disclosures so far with a further three still under review. "We also concluded two qualifying disclosures that were raised during the previous reporting period," it said, adding: "The action GPhC took included a full investigation through established fitness to practise processes and follow-up action through its inspection network. "The former can result in any available outcome throughout the fitness to practise process. The latter can include guidance, a follow-up visit or an unexpected inspection." 12 concerns were investigated and concluded with no further action. Three were signposted to another organisation. The remaining seven cases were concluded by sharing information with inspection colleagues for follow up action. Of the two concerns from the previous reporting period, one was concluded with no further action and the other remains under investigation.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is mulling over introducing "differentiated fees options to cover the increased regulation needed for online pharmacies." In papers published by the regulator ahead of its meeting on Thursday (December 9), it noted that with increase in number of online and distance-selling pharmacies, the regulation has become "potentially more complex and resource intensive." It highlighted that service provided by online pharmacies pose a high risk "in terms of professional care and professional standards". Only 63 per cent of the 187 inspections of online pharmacies since April 2019, met all standards, against the overall benchmark of 84 per cent, the GPhC said. The independent regulator informed that swift enforcement action has been taken against 48 online pharmacies to address patient safety risks, including 40 conditions notices and 11 improvement notices.

Blackwells Chemist, a community pharmacy in South East London did not meet all the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) standards. The pharmacy was inspected on Thursday (01 June) and it was found it did not keep all its records up to date and accurate, particularly its responsible pharmacist records. Investigation report stated that the principle of Governance and principle of Services, including medicines management was 'not met at all'. Under the principle Governance, the report stated: "The pharmacy generally manages the risks associated with its services adequately. People using the pharmacy can provide feedback or raise concerns. And staff generally protect people's personal information well. Team members know what to do to help protect the welfare of a vulnerable person. The pharmacy has written procedures, but these are not easily accessible to team members to refer to. And they are not regularly updated. So, they may be less useful to staff, and may not reflect current best practice." In the inspection it was found that the pharmacy does not always store its medicines properly. It cannot show that it stores all its medicines requiring cold storage at the appropriate temperatures.

The General Pharmaceutical Council's Investigating Committee took decisive action on March 25, 2024, by issuing a warning to Dilsha Kiran Shah, registration number: 2049787, for her conduct as Superintendent Pharmacist of Jhoots Healthcare Ltd. Miss Shah's failure to uphold the Medicines Act 1968, specifically in ensuring the proper management of medicinal products, triggered this warning. The Act mandates supervision in "keeping, preparing, and dispensing medicinal products other than those on a general sale list." Moreover, pharmacies are inspected on five principles - Governance, Staff, Premises, Services including medicines management, and Equipment and facilities to meet the right standards. The alarm was initially raised in August 2021 when a Jhoots Healthcare Ltd pharmacy branch under Miss Shah's supervision operated without a responsible pharmacist. Despite explicit instructions, pharmacy staff were allegedly instructed to proceed without proper supervision, raising grave concerns regarding patient safety.