If you are unsure whether a person is a GPhC inspector then you should get in touch with the GPhC contact centre.
Call us Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm on 0203 713 8000.
Our inspection team carry out routine and intelligence-led inspections and themed reviews. During inspections, our inspectors look for evidence that standards are being met.
During pharmacy inspections, our inspectors will be looking for evidence to show that the standards for registered pharmacies are met. Our inspections follow a ‘show and tell’ approach; our inspectors look at the pharmacy services being provided and involve members of the pharmacy team in the inspection.
The whole pharmacy team will need to understand the standards and think about what examples they can give to show how they are meeting the standards and what supporting evidence they can provide.
Unannounced inspections
Inspections are generally unannounced. This is because we believe it is important for us to inspect a pharmacy as patients and members of the public find it and to see how well a pharmacy is meeting our standards day to day.
Inspections can take up to three hours, but the length will vary depending upon the nature of the pharmacy and the focus of the inspection.
When a GPhC inspector arrives for an inspection, they will show their warrant card as identification and the Responsible Pharmacist should check this identification.
Most inspections take place between 9am and 5pm, although a small number may take place later if the pharmacy opens later or over the weekend if there is good reason for this.
In situations where an inspector thinks that continuing an inspection may mean that patient safety could be put at risk, they will halt the inspection and resume when it is safe to do so.
Meeting the standards for registered pharmacies
Responsibility for meeting pharmacy standards lies with pharmacy owners. However, we realise that the pharmacy owner or superintendent may not be in attendance when the inspection takes place. Where this is the case, we will still carry out our inspection, even if on that day the Responsible Pharmacist is a locum. This is because pharmacies must meet our standards every day.
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What inspectors will look at during an inspection
During the inspection, the inspectors will continue to speak to the pharmacy team as a whole rather than just the owner, superintendent or Responsible Pharmacist.
Inspectors will not be looking for a standard set of documents or practices. Instead, the owner and superintendent, in collaboration with the pharmacy team, must provide evidence of how they meet the standards.
Our inspectors use a decision-making framework in assessing if a pharmacy has met the standards. This framework is currently being updated and the updated version will be published in Spring 2025.
Our inspectors will gather and record evidence in a number of ways, including:
- Looking at written or documentary evidence
- Observing interactions with patients
- Asking questions and posing scenarios to staff
- Testing systems, processes and procedures
Inspectors will ask a range of questions to help them understand the context in which a pharmacy is operating and use a ‘show and tell’ approach.
The evidence collected by our inspectors will be used to assess whether a pharmacy has met all of the standards.
At the end of the inspection the inspector will go through their findings with the Responsible Pharmacist, who will be asked to confirm they have received feedback from the inspection. The Responsible Pharmacist has an opportunity to make any additional comments. This is important to show that the evidence recorded on the report is an accurate reflection of what the inspector saw and was shown on the day.
Pharmacies which have not met one or more of the standards will also be asked to complete an improvement action plan setting out what action they are planning to take to improve against those standards. There may be occasions where there are more serious concerns and enforcement action will need to be considered.
Different types of inspection
Our inspection team carry out both routine and intelligence-led inspections. Reports from all inspections are published on our pharmacy inspections website (with a few exceptions such as in cases involving a fitness to practise investigation). We also carry out themed reviews, where we visit a range of pharmacies to look in detail at a particular theme.
Click on the titles below to find out more about each type of inspection.
There are two main types of routine inspection: 'focused’ and ‘full’ inspections.
Focused inspection
These are shorter, more focused inspections, concentrating on how pharmacies are meeting our key standards on patient safety. These focused inspections enable us to carry out more inspection activity as efficiently as possible, while continuing to ensure pharmacies provide safe and effective care.
With a focused inspection, a reduced number of 18 core standards will be checked (standards for registered pharmacies numbers 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 5.1). These include the standards most commonly not met, as well as those having the greatest impact on patient safety.
Inspectors have the option to switch to a full inspection if they believe this is necessary (see the Full inspections section below for further details).
We may also carry out a focused inspection when a pharmacy needs to be reinspected following an inspection where not all the standards were met. This reinspection would focus on the standards which were previously not met, to ensure that the pharmacy has embedded the required changes. The inspector still has the option to switch to a full inspection if they believe this is necessary.
After a focused inspection, we will publish a clear, concise report on our inspections website, which will include an overall outcome (whether standards have been met or not met) and a summary table of the pharmacy’s performance against the standards.
The focused inspection reports are designed to take into consideration the wider range of clinical services and service models now being provided by pharmacies, but be clear and consistent in their format.
Full inspections
These are in-depth inspections and will be carried out if an inspector deems a full inspection necessary. They may decide they need more information for example, or to speak to more members of the pharmacy team, to ensure standards are being met.
Any pharmacy being inspected for the first time will always have a full inspection.
Other types of inspections
We continue to carry out other types of routine inspections, including re-inspections of pharmacies that have failed one or more standards within a six-month period, and inspections of new pharmacies joining the register.
We use a methodology whereby a proportion of randomly selected pharmacies are inspected, whilst ensuring that the sample is representative of the types of pharmacy on the register. Our approach to inspection methodology will remain iterative and under continued review.