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GPhC Chair welcomes next step in parliamentary process for Pharmacy Order

15 January 2010

The GPhC Chair designate Bob Nicholls welcomed the passing of the Pharmacy Order 2010 by the House of Commons this week. The Order must now go before the House of Lords in order to complete its parliamentary process. It was passed by the Scottish Parliament in December 2009.

Bob Nicholls said: "With another step in the parliamentary process for the Order now complete, a further major milestone has been passed, as we move towards the establishment of the GPhC in 2010."

The end of the parliamentary process will clear the way for the Pharmacy Order 2010 to go to the Privy Council. Once the Privy Council processes are complete, the GPhC will be able to come into existence as an independent legal entity.

Further steps in the process to establish the GPhC are already underway. A series of detailed legislative rules is currently being prepared which will set out clearly how GPhC regulation will operate, and which will work alongside the GPhC's regulatory standards. The first set of rules for consultation will include: fees, appeals, registration, statutory committees and fitness to practise. A public consultation on the rules will take place in early 2010, and the rules will then be subject to parliamentary and Privy Council processes, prior to the opening date.

The GPhC designate is working closely with the Departments of Health in England, Scotland and Wales, and with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB), to make sure the transfer of regulation is well organised. A date for the transfer will be announced as soon as it can be finalised, but the timetable is still subject to parliamentary and Privy Council processes.

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