General Pharmaceutical Council

Welcome

This comes to you at an exciting time in the build up to the transfer of regulation to the GPhC. It is now only nine weeks until the day we are aiming to become operational, 27 September, Parliamentary process permitting. As such, I and my executive team, which now includes Hilary Lloyd, Director of Regulatory Services, who has now started with us, are overseeing a very busy staff team with everyone keenly focused on a date just two months away.

This e-bulletin will update you on the path to transfer as well as the news that we have now launched our standards and vision, which you can find on our website. I would encourage you all to begin making yourselves familiar with the standards which will come into force on day one. We will be sending conduct, ethics and performance standards as well as standards for continuing professional development to all registrants in the coming weeks. Please look out for the mailing and ask your colleagues and peers to do so as well.

As we count down to launch we will be ramping up communications activity and I hope you’ll be able to find out everything you need to know about the GPhC and how it affects you.

All the best for a great summer,

Duncan Rudkin

Establishment Update

The constitution order named the 27 September as the day GPhC powers can come into being. The GPhC will therefore open its doors on Monday September 27th 2010, subject to parliamentary process.

Standards and vision and strategy launched

We have, this week, launched our  Vision and Strategy and four sets of Standards.

The vision and strategy, agreed by the GPhC Council last month, is a key document that informs patients, the public and others of what the GPhC intends to achieve over a particular time period. It makes clear the vision and values of the new pharmacy regulator and provides clear objectives against which the GPhC can operate.

We have published the following Standards:
GPhC Standards for conduct, ethics and performance
GPhC Standards for continuing professional development
GPhC standards for the initial education and training of pharmacy technicians
GPhC Standards for pharmacy owners and superintendent pharmacists of retail pharmacy businesses

These will be the standards which will come into operation from the first day of operation of the GPhC and we would encourage you to begin to familiarise yourself with them. 

These documents are available on our website at www.pharmacyregulation.org.

Key information

Over the coming months we will be working to ensure that registrants, pharmacy organisations and employers are made aware of the changes occurring to pharmacy regulation. We will be contacting professional organisations and employers to inform them about changes which apply to them. In a few weeks we will be mailing all registrants with relevant standards and other information and we will also be talking with the pharmacy press to help inform you of relevant issues. We encourage you to look out for mailings, emails and calls from us so that you may be best informed, and encourage your colleagues to do the same.

If you are an organisation with members or employees and you would like to be involved in helping to inform them about changes you can contact emma.beals@pharmacyregulation.org in the first instance to discuss ways we can work together, perhaps by putting information on websites or internal mailings.

Council

The GPhC Council met on 21 July. The agenda and papers which were discussed are available here. There will not be a public Council meeting August but Council will meet again in September with a very full agenda. If you would like to attend this meeting, please contact Alison Readman on 0203 365 3507 or email Alison.readman@pharmacyregulation.org.