We’re the regulator for pharmacies, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in Great Britain. Our role is to protect everyone who uses pharmacy services.
Pharmacy plays a key role in helping to keep you healthy and well. To make sure you receive safe and effective care, we keep a register of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacies.
We make sure pharmacists and pharmacy technicians on our register are fully qualified and have the skills and knowledge needed to do their job safely. This is called being ‘fit to practise’. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians must be registered with us by law and can’t work in pharmacy if they’re not on our register.
We also regulate pharmacies to make sure they’re well managed, and the equipment and facilities are safe.
Setting the standards for care
Your health and wellbeing are at the centre of everything we do. To achieve this, we set standards that every pharmacy and pharmacy professional needs to meet.
Our standards give you assurance you’ll receive high-quality care that supports your personal needs.
Investigating concerns
If you’re concerned that a pharmacy, pharmacist or pharmacy technician isn’t meeting our standards, we want to hear from you.
We take your concerns seriously and will carefully review and assess every matter before deciding whether to begin an investigation.
When needed, we’ll take action to restrict the practice of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacies to protect patients and make sure you feel confident using pharmacy services.
Also see
What to expect when visiting a pharmacy
Find out more about the standards you can expect from a pharmacy and its staff.
Buying medicines safely online
Important information to help you make sure that any medicine, treatment or health service you buy online is safe.
Pharmacy inspections
Visit our Pharmacy inspections website to read our reports and see whether your local pharmacies meet our standards.