We set standards for registered pharmacies in Great Britain; and by inspecting pharmacies we assess if they are meeting these standards. In this way, we provide assurance to patients and the public that they will receive safe and effective care.
Pharmacy inspections are also intended to help pharmacies improve their systems and services, the quality of care and the outcomes for patients and the public using their services.
Winter pressures
"We know that the pharmacy sector is continuing to experience high and sustained demands during this very busy winter period. The joint communication we issued in December recognises the critical role of pharmacy professionals and teams in supporting the NHS and social care services at this time.
Given the ongoing winter pressures, we are keeping our regulatory processes under review to ensure we support pharmacies during these challenging times to provide safe and effective care to patients. We have extended the timeframe of our sample of routine inspections to spread these out over a longer period, including moving any inspections of hospital pharmacies in this sample to later in spring. We are also making adjustments to allow more flexibility for pharmacies to respond to our inspection reports."
Visit our pharmacy inspections website to find published pharmacy inspection reports.
Our approach to inspections has recently changed. Explore the links below to find out more about our approach or visit our pharmacy inspections website to find published pharmacy inspection reports.
We set standards for registered pharmacies in Great Britain; and by inspecting pharmacies we assess if they are meeting these standards. In this way, we provide assurance to patients and the public that they will receive safe and effective care.
Pharmacy inspections are also intended to help pharmacies improve their systems and services, the quality of care and the outcomes for patients and the public using their services.