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The pharmacy regulator can hold hearings and meetings either remotely or in-person in future as the Council of the GPhC has agreed to a change in its rules. The rules are expected to come into force on 1 October 2022. Until the rules and new policy and guidance come into force, the GPhC will continue to only hold remote hearings with the consent of the person concerned and/or their legal representative. Following positive feedback from those taking part in remote hearings, the GPhC consulted on a proposed permanent change to its rules so it could continue to hold hearings remotely in the future, when it is fair and appropriate to do so. The proposal to continue remote hearings, including fitness to practise hearings, received wide support with 78 per cent of respondents agreeing. "During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and restrictions we had to hold many meetings and hearings remotely by videolink. As such we were granted - along with other regulators - a temporary provision to enable us to do this and carry out our statutory role," Duncan Rudkin, chief executive of the GPHC, said.

Out of the 2,805 students who sat for the common registration assessment test for pharmacists this June, approximately 2,150 have passed the exam, according to the General Pharmaceutical Council. It assesses pharmacy graduates' knowledge and skills to ensure safe and effective practice as pharmacists. This year, the pass rate was 77 per cent, slightly lower than the 80 per cent pass rate in June 2022, where 2,147 out of 2,697 candidates cleared the assessment, GPhC data showed. The exam comprises a written assessment testing pharmaceutical science and pharmacy practice knowledge and a practical assessment evaluating clinical skills and patient-facing competencies. Eligible candidates must complete an accredited pharmacy degree program and meet GPhC requirements. The assessment is conducted jointly by the General Pharmaceutical Council and the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland. "The assessment is a primary method for testing trainees' ability to apply knowledge and make professional judgments in pharmacy practice," said Mark Voce, Director of Education and Standards, GPhC. "This is crucial in assuring patients and the public that they are in safe hands."

New legislative orders approved by the Privy Council will give the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI) powers to set professional standards for Responsible Pharmacists, Superintendent Pharmacists and Chief Pharmacists. The Pharmacy (Preparation and Dispensing Errors - Hospital (and Other Pharmacy Services) Order 2022 and the Pharmacy (Responsible Pharmacists, Superintendent Pharmacists etc.) Order 2022 have been published and are expected to come into force in December 2022. Trevor Patterson, Chief Executive of the Pharmaceutical Society NI said: "We have been working with our colleagues in the GPhC and Government for some time on these two pieces of important legislation and we are delighted they have now reached the statute books. "Both Orders enable and enhance the powers we, and the GPhC, have to define the roles and responsibilities of Responsible, Superintendent and Chief Pharmacists, respectively. They also create protections against criminal prosecution for hospital pharmacists where an inadvertent error is made either in dispensing or assembly, in certain defined circumstances, similar to the protections available to colleagues working in community/registered pharmacy settings. Provisions that allow the appointment of a Deputy Registrar for our organisation will also be introduced.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has launched a new draft 'Equality Guidance' for pharmacies to tackle discrimination and make sure that everyone can access safe and effective person-centred pharmacy care. GPhC's consultation is seeking views on "the structure and language of the guidance, if anything is missing and the impacts on patients and members of the public, pharmacy staff, pharmacy owners, and individuals or groups sharing any of the protected characteristics." The regulator said the draft guidance is designed to support pharmacy owners to: demonstrate that they are meeting our standards for registered pharmacies fulfil their legal and regulatory duties in relation to equality help protect the rights of individuals advance equal opportunities for staff, patients and the wider public help improve the experience and healthcare outcomes of patients and members of the public.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has raised concerns over the rising risks related to online pharmacy services. It revealed over 30 per cent of its open Fitness to Practise (FtP) cases were related to online pharmacy, which is disproportionate to the sector of the market that online services occupy. The regulator has advised pharmacists and pharmacy owners providing online services that they should "not work with online providers who try to circumvent the regulatory oversight put in place within the UK to ensure patient safety". In the past five months, the Council has imposed seven interim orders on the registration of pharmacists who have worked for or with online prescribing services - after identifying serious concerns with their practice. It said: "These pharmacists were working as pharmacist independent prescribers for online services or were dispensing medicines prescribed online. Some of these pharmacists were the Responsible Pharmacist (RP) or the Superintendent Pharmacist (SP)."

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has removed a pharmacist from its register who black-marketed 'zolpidem' along with another pharmacist between 2015 and 2016. Dean Zainool Dookhan, a pharmacist first registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain on 18 October 2004 and whose registration was later transferred to the General Pharmaceutical Council under registration number 2059808, was jailed last year for exporting 20,000 packets of zolpidem to the Caribbean. While hearing the case on 24-25 May, GPhC's Fitness to Practise Committee stated that "removal of the Registrant's name from the register is the appropriate and proportionate response to his convictions." "The public interest includes protecting the public, maintaining public confidence in the profession, and maintaining proper standards of behaviour. The Committee is entitled to give greater weight to the public interest than the Registrant's own interest in remaining on the register." "The Committee recognises the sanction has a punitive effect in that the Registrant's ability to practise and earn an income as a pharmacist and 28 his professional reputation will be curtailed; it will be five years before he can seek restoration to the register. However, that is the price he must pay for failing to comply with the fundamental tenets of his profession."