Temporary registration in response to the COVID-19 emergency

About the temporary register

The temporary register is for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working or volunteering in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

People on the temporary register are required to meet the standards for pharmacy professionals [PDF 375 KB], including working within the limits of their skills and competence.

The temporary register will close on 31 March 2024. 

Temporary register: Q&A

People that want to be removed from the temporary register before it closes on 31 March 2024, should email registers@pharmacyregulation.org.

Pharmacy professionals that want to practise as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician from 1 April 2024 onwards, or are currently intending to practise in a role that is not directly related to COVID-19, will need to prepare a detailed portfolio before applying to return to the register.

For further information, see answers to common questions about temporary registration or call our contact centre on 020 3713 8000.
 

Download the temporary register [xls 23 KB]

Last updated 15 February 2024. The document will automatically download, as you click on the above link.

The temporary register is updated regularly. Please always check the information and download a new copy of the register from this web page, rather than relying on copies from other sources.

Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are listed on separate tabs within the spreadsheet.

Background to the temporary register

We have powers under the Pharmacy Order 2010 to register on a temporary basis fit, proper and suitably experienced people to act as pharmacists and pharmacy technicians if an emergency is declared by the Secretary of State.

In March 2020, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care asked the GPhC to use its emergency powers to register pharmacy professionals rapidly to assist in the national response to the COVID-19 emergency. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in Great Britain were registered on a temporary basis if they met GPhC criteria:

  • left the GPhC register no more than three years before March 2020
  • were removed from the register on a voluntary basis, or due to non-renewal of registration
  • had no live fitness to practise issues.

Those eligible for temporary registration, and that we could contact through the last email address we held on file, were given the option to opt-out before the register went live.

In September 2023, the UK Government requested that health regulators close their temporary registers at the end of March 2024, as it expects the emergency conditions under which the temporary registers were originally established, would no longer apply. 

 

Guidance for employers

The temporary register will close on 31 March 2024. 

Please see our guidance for employers on their responsibilities [PDF 169 KB] for pharmacy professionals they employ that are on the temporary register.