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Just over 60 per cent candidates have passed the first four-country common registration assessment for pharmacists, held jointly by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Out of a total of 959 candidates who sat the assessment in four countries on 16 November, 584 candidates have passed - recording an overall pass rate of 60.9 per cent. The registration assessment is one of the ways trainee pharmacists can demonstrate that they understand how to apply knowledge appropriately and in a timely way, to make professional judgements in pharmacy practice. Passing the registration assessment is a vital element of being eligible to apply to become a registered pharmacist. In the November assessment, 43 per cent candidates sat for the first time, 45 per cent for the second time and 12 per cent for the third time.

Trainee pharmacists across Great Britain are preparing to participate in Pharmacist Support's annual Trainee ACTNow Wellbeing Campaign, scheduled from May 20th to 24th. Organised by the charity, this initiative aims to provide essential support as trainees approach the culmination of their placements and gear up for the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) assessment. Danielle Hunt, Chief Executive of Pharmacist Support, highlighted the campaign's focus on addressing the significant stress and pressure trainees may experience during this critical period. She stated: "We understand the anxiety and pressure they may feel, not only in preparing for the assessment but also in stepping into their roles as registered pharmacists."

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has raised concern over the Health Education England (HEE)'s decision on cutting funding to independent prescribing training. The HEE has reportedly decided that no funding will be available to back-fill trainees undertaking the pharmacist independent prescribing (PIP) qualification, or for the supervision of trainees by DPPs and DMPs. The PDA noted that, whilst all successful trainee pharmacists will be entering the GPhC register as independent prescribers from 2026, the existing pharmacist workforce is reliant on opportunities to undertake prescriber training through release from their employment, and the ability to secure a Designated Medical Practitioner (DMP) or Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP) to support the 90 days of supervised practice required. The association said it has already heard examples of potential DMPs or DPPs requesting a significant fee from trainees before they will provide supervision, adding that meeting that request is not an option for many. "This latest decision threatens to undermine the availability of the large numbers of pharmacists seeing supervisors as more IP training becomes available," it said in a statement.

As part of its inclusion and diversity strategy, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has launched a campaign to challenge barriers to working in pharmacy for those with disabilities. A profession-wide survey on the subject conducted by the RPS, identified disability as the biggest barrier to working in pharmacy, highlighting the area of work to support pharmacists. The campaign will focus on reducing barriers to enter the profession, developing more accessible working environments and encouraging employers to collect data on disability in the workplace. The campaign, based on inputs from the RPS Ability Group volunteers with visible and non-visible disabilities, will run until the end of March. Following recommendation of the RPS Ability Group, RPS has written to the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) the Higher Education Occupational Practitioners (HEOPS) to update the guidance on standards of medical fitness for pharmacy students.

Online pharmacies have to operate from bricks & mortar premises that are registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council, but recent cases show that, in reality, the practices of online pharmacies are often very different to other pharmacies, and the regulation of online pharmacies is also different - and evolving as issues arise. For a start, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is only one of the regulators taking an interest in online pharmacy services. Other regulators include the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) which enforces the advertising and promotion of medicines, and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which regulates prescribing services. The different regulation of online pharmacies is attributable to the higher risk to patients and the public from medicines bought online. These risks often arise from a combination of patients who do not tell the truth in order to obtain medicines and the nature of a transaction in which a pharmacist does not see patients face-to-face. "The GPhC has strong enforcement powers that it uses when it considers its premises standards have not complied with." However, there are also things that go wrong because pharmacists have simply failed to act professionally or take sufficient care, as well as cases where things have gone wrong through misfortune.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published plans to amend current pharmacy legislation on dispensing errors and clarify how registered pharmacies are governed. The Department's response to a public consultation on rebalancing medicines legislation and pharmacy regulation programme first proposed in summer 2018 was delayed due to Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. The programme aims to clarify and strengthen the organisational governance arrangements of registered pharmacies, specifically to define and clarify the core purpose of the Responsible Pharmacist and Superintendent Pharmacist roles. It will also give the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) powers to define in professional standards how those roles are fulfilled.

The number of pharmacists working in community pharmacy in England has increased by 19 per cent in five years, according to new data released by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). As of 31 October 2022, there were 27,711 community pharmacists in the country, as compared to 23,284 in 2017, an increase of almost 4,500. Pharmacy minister Andrea Leadsom revealed these figures yesterday (14 December) while responding to a written question from Karin Smyth, Shadow Minister of Health, in the parliament. Smyth asked - how many and what proportion of community pharmacists have worked in England for each of the last 10 years.

The Council of Pharmaceutical Society NI (PSNI) has introduced an 8-week public consultation on proposed Guidance on Pharmacy Staffing Levels within registered premises. The principle-based Guidance seeks to assist Pharmacy Owners and Superintendents to ensure that each pharmacy has enough appropriately skilled and qualified staff to provide safe and effective pharmacy services to the public. All registered pharmacies will have to meet the standards set out in the Premises Standards, when commenced. PSNI said: "The proposed Guidance should also help ensure a working environment that will facilitate pharmacists to meet their professional obligations under the Professional Standards of Conduct, Ethics and Performance for Pharmacists in Northern Ireland (2016)." "Whilst other health regulators have primary responsibility for systems regulation outside of regulated premises, we consider that the principles outlined in this Guidance, will be helpful for managers working with pharmacy teams in different settings."

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has alerted pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy owners via email regarding new emergency legislation governing the prescribing and supply of puberty-suppressing hormones, commonly known as 'puberty blockers', for children and young people under 18 in England, Wales, and Scotland. The regulations apply to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues, used to suppress puberty as part of treating gender incongruence or gender dysphoria in individuals under 18. Effective from 3 June 2024, new private prescriptions for GnRH analogues from prescribers in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland who are not UK registered are banned from being dispensed in Great Britain for patients under 18. The emergency ban on these medicines will remain in effect until September 3, 2024, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced on 29 May, stating that the action has been taken to address risks to "patient safety."