Welcome to the website of the General Pharmaceutical Council

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) will replace the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain as the regulator for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy premises from 2010, parliamentary timetable permitting. 

The launch date will be set once the parliamentary process is completed including the process of making legislative rules.

The RPSGB will continue to be the regulator until 2010, when the GPhC is established. At the same time, a new professional leadership body for pharmacists will be set up to represent pharmacists.

The pharmacy profession has an excellent track record of delivering safe services and care, and is highly valued by the public. It has also been regulated well and effectively by the RPSGB.

The new arrangements will ensure that the pharmacy profession is regulated according to the same principles as other healthcare professions. These principles have been developed to improve public confidence in regulation in general.

In addition, as pharmacists and pharmacy technicians take on wider roles in a range of settings in health, science, academia and industry, the changes to regulation will help to ensure that the profession is well placed to meet the challenges of the future.

All pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy owners/employers need to be aware of forthcoming changes to pharmacy regulation that will affect areas such as registration, continuing professional development, standards, fees and premises.

This website was set up by the Department of Health, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly Government to keep pharmacy professionals and the public informed about the establishment of the GPhC. It is now maintained by the GPhC.

We are particularly interested to hear your feedback so that we can further shape the GPhC and ensure that we are providing as much information as possible.