Annual report reviews pharmacy regulator’s progress

The General Pharmaceutical Council has published its second annual report, covering its first full year in operation (April 2011- March 2012).

The report sets out the independent pharmacy regulator’s achievements over the year, including:

  • developing a new set of standards for the regulation of registered pharmacies, signalling a fundamental change in the regulation of pharmacy. Our approach is based on achieving the best outcomes for patients, whilst putting the onus on pharmacy owners and superintendents to decide how to achieve those outcomes
  • reducing the fitness to practise caseload by 30 per cent
  • making efficiency savings of just over £2 million by handling fitness to practise cases more proportionately and changing the way we obtain and manage legal services

Bob Nicholls, Chair of the GPhC, said:

“This report sets out the significant progress we have made in the last year in our work to protect patients and to maintain public confidence in registered pharmacy professionals. At the core of our work is a commitment to regulating in a fair, proportionate and efficient way. This is demonstrated through what we have achieved in the past year, including through the changes we have made to our fitness to practise processes.”

The GPhC’s good performance overall has also been recognised in the annual performance review carried out by the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE).

Bob Nicholls added:

“The CHRE’s review also recognises the progress we have made. We have faced some challenges, as noted in both our annual report and the CHRE’s review, and have learnt from those experiences and taken action to further improve our performance.

“We have ambitious plans for the year ahead, including the introduction of new standards and a new inspection model to modernise the regulation of pharmacies across Great Britain.”