Indemnity requirements

To practise as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician, you need to have professional indemnity insurance in place that covers you for any risks associated with your area of work.

Under article 32 of the Pharmacy Order 2010, you must have appropriate indemnity cover to register with us. This means if you’re negligent and someone comes to harm, they’ll receive the compensation and legal costs they’re entitled to.

Choosing suitable indemnity cover

Your indemnity arrangement may be:

an insurance policy
organised by your employer
through a professional body, trade union or defence organisation
a combination of the above
You must make sure that your professional indemnity arrangement provides suitable cover. It needs to be appropriate to the nature and extent of the risks involved in your practice, so that enough compensation will be paid if a successful claim is made against you.

Appropriate cover for you may depend on a combination of factors, including:

the practice area or areas you work in
the services you provide to patients and the public
the risks involved with your practice
What might be appropriate cover for one person may not be right for another. You need to make sure you consider the risks which may arise from your practice and have an indemnity arrangement in place that provides cover appropriate to those risks.

Get advice

We can’t advise you about the level of indemnity cover that you need. Please speak to a professional body, trade union, defence organisation or insurer, to help you make an informed decision about the level of cover appropriate to you and your practice. You need to be able to justify your decisions.

We’ve put together some of the common questions we get asked about indemnity cover by pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

General

1. What is an indemnity arrangement?

Under article 32 of the Pharmacy Order 2010, an indemnity arrangement may be:

an insurance policy
organised by your employer for the purposes of indemnifying you
through a professional body, trade union or defence organisation
a combination of the above

2. What do the requirements mean for registrants?

If you want to practise as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician and register with us, you must have an indemnity arrangement with appropriate cover in place.

When you apply to register or to renew your registration with us, you must confirm that you understand you can’t practise without having appropriate indemnity cover in place. You must also confirm that you’ll inform us within seven days if your indemnity cover runs out.

We may ask you for further information about your indemnity arrangements. Each registrant will need to know the details of their indemnity cover and provide us with these if requested.

3. What does appropriate cover mean?

It means cover against liabilities that may be incurred in practising as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician. The cover must be appropriate and consider the nature and extent of the risks associated with your practice. The level of cover should be sufficient to meet any liabilities that may be incurred if a successful claim is made against you. For example, legal costs and any compensation awarded. The cover must be in place by the time you begin to practise.

It's your responsibility to make sure you have appropriate indemnity arrangements for all aspects of your practice. We don’t offer guidance about what would be considered adequate scope and funding of indemnity cover. These are both aspects that you must consider. If you’re unsure, you should check with your employer or other indemnity provider, such as an insurer, trade union, professional body or defence organisation.

4. What does practising mean?

Practising as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician is defined in the Pharmacy Order 2010 (article 3(2)) as ‘acting in the capacity of or purporting to be a pharmacist or pharmacy technician, that person undertakes any work or gives any advice in relation to the preparation, assembly, dispensing, sale, supply or use of medicines, the science of medicines, the practice of pharmacy or the provision of healthcare’.

What do the requirements mean for me?

1. I’m an employee. Do I need additional indemnity cover?

Being covered by an employer’s indemnity arrangements doesn’t mean you’re exempt from having appropriate indemnity cover, but it may mean you don’t need to purchase additional cover. If your employer has made indemnity arrangements which provide appropriate cover for any risks incurred in your area of practice, that should be sufficient. However, it is your responsibility to make sure you’re appropriately indemnified under your employer’s cover.

If you work for more than one employer, you need to make sure you have appropriate indemnity arrangements in place for each area of your practice. If you’re unsure, you should check what is covered under your employer’s indemnity arrangements. You may also want to seek advice from an indemnity provider to help you decide whether to arrange any personal indemnity cover in addition to your employer’s arrangements. An employer’s arrangement will only provide cover for activities performed by an employee as part of their duties in that job.

2. I’m self-employed. What do the requirements mean for me?

3. I work both as an employee and as a self-employed person. What do the requirements mean for me?

4. I’m applying for registration as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician. What do the requirements mean for me?

We recognise you may not have yet secured employment or made a separate indemnity arrangement. You’ll still be able to apply for registration. We’ll ask you to declare that you understand you can’t practise unless you have appropriate indemnity cover in place and will inform us within seven days if your cover runs out. If you don’t complete the declarations, you won’t be able to register with us.

5. I’m practising but I don’t work with patients. What do the requirements mean for me?

The requirement to have appropriate indemnity arrangements in place applies to all registrants and all aspects of practice. If you’re employed, your employer may well have made indemnity arrangements which will provide appropriate cover for the risks associated with the activities you carry out as part of your job. But it’s your responsibility to make sure you’re appropriately indemnified under your employer’s cover.

If you’re self-employed and in non-clinical practice, you should contact your insurer, trade union, professional body or defence organisation for specialist advice on adequate and appropriate indemnity cover for your practice.

6. What if my practice changes?

If your practice changes, for example because you take on new responsibilities, begin to specialise, or move into management, education or research, you may need to review the level of cover provided by your indemnity arrangements or take out new cover.

You should review your indemnity arrangements whenever you change your role or start a new job, to make sure you continue to have appropriate cover. For example, if you become an independent prescriber, you should check that your indemnity arrangements cover this area of practice.

7. I’m a pharmacy owner. What does this mean for me?

A pharmacy owner must make sure they have appropriate indemnity arrangements in place for the services provided at their registered pharmacy or any associated premises. The cover must be appropriate and consider the nature and extent of the risks associated with the services provided. If, for example, a pharmacy sells medicines online to patients who live outside Great Britain, the owner must make sure they inform their indemnity provider that this is part of the services they provide. They may also need to provide evidence that their service complies with relevant guidance, import and export requirements, and legislation in the country where the patient will receive the medicines.

The level of cover should be sufficient to meet any liabilities that may be incurred if a successful claim is made against you. For example, legal costs and any compensation awarded.

An employed registrant, whether they work for a pharmacy owner or another employer, should consider whether any indemnity arrangement provided by their employer is sufficient or whether they need to make any additional arrangements. Registrants will need information about any indemnity arrangement provided by an employer so they can make an informed decision about whether they need to make any additional arrangements. They must have appropriate and adequate cover for all aspects of their practice.

If an employed registrant is asked to provide details of their indemnity cover to the GPhC, they’ll need to ask their employer for the details of the employer’s indemnity arrangements. They’ll need to submit this, along with a letter from their employer to confirm they’re covered by the policy.

What information is needed?

1. What information or evidence would I need to provide about my indemnity arrangements, if requested?

We’ll provide full information about what you need to send us. Any evidence you provide will need to relate to the date or dates stated in the notice. You can send us copies of certificates or scanned copies of certificates. If you work solely for an NHS employer, we’ll accept a letter from the NHS Human Resources department confirming your employment status and the fact you’re covered by their indemnity arrangements for work carried out as part of your NHS job.

2. What information do I need to give the GPhC if my indemnity arrangements stop or change?

3. How will the GPhC check that indemnity arrangements are in place?

When you apply to register, restore or renew your registration with us, you’ll be asked whether you have an indemnity arrangement in place and whether this is provided by:

•   your employer

•   a personal arrangement with an indemnity/insurance provider

•   a combination of employer provided indemnity arrangement and a personal arrangement

If you indicate in your application that you don’t have any indemnity arrangements in place, you’ll be asked to confirm you understand that, on entry in the register or renewal of your entry, you can’t practise as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician. You can only practise if you have an indemnity arrangement which provides appropriate cover for your scope of practice.

You’ll also be asked to confirm that you’ll inform us in writing within seven days if you cease to have appropriate indemnity arrangements in place. If you don’t complete the declarations, you won’t be able to register, renew or restore your registration and will be removed from the register.

We wouldn’t request evidence of indemnity cover from registrants on a routine basis, but we may seek evidence when, for example, a complaint has been made or there are concerns that appropriate cover may not be in place.

There’ll be no requirement to provide evidence of indemnity cover as part of the standard renewal process. The renewal process requires a self-declaration. If we need to see evidence of indemnity cover from a registrant during their renewal period (for example, because concerns have been raised that they don't have cover in place), we’ll send you a separate letter with a deadline for providing this information.

Special circumstances

1. I’m registered but not practising at the moment. Do I still need to have indemnity arrangements in place?

If you’re registered but not practising, you must still inform us within seven days of your indemnity cover running out.

If you’re not practising at all for a period, for example because you’re on a career break, maternity leave or between jobs, we don’t require you to have indemnity cover during this period. You may want to consider whether you need to take out a ‘run-off’ indemnity policy, which would provide cover for any claims made relating to the work you did before you stopped practising. Your insurer, trade union, professional body or defence organisation can talk to you about this.

Similarly, if you’re working in a field unconnected with pharmacy and aren’t undertaking any work that could be considered to fall within the definition of ‘practising’ in the Pharmacy Order (article 3(2)), we wouldn’t require you to have indemnity arrangements in place.

You may also want to consider whether you need to take out a ‘run-off’ indemnity policy to provide cover for any claims made relating to the work you did before you stopped practising. Your insurer, trade union, professional body or defence organisation can advise you about this.

Before practising again, you would need to make sure you have appropriate indemnity arrangements in place. You would also need to continue to meet the CPD requirements while you’re on the register. If you’re not intending to practise for some time, you may want to consider applying for voluntary removal from the register and then applying for restoration before beginning to practise again.

2. What about voluntary work?

The requirement to have appropriate indemnity arrangements in place applies to all registrants and all aspects of practice. If you practise your profession on a voluntary basis, the organisation you’re working for may have made indemnity arrangements to cover you for the activities you carry out for them, or you may already have personal indemnity arrangements that cover your voluntary work. It’s your responsibility to make sure you have appropriate indemnity arrangements in place for all aspects of your practice.

If you’re unsure, you should check with the organisation for which you are volunteering or contact your insurer, trade union, professional body or defence organisation for advice.

3. What about working overseas?

4. What about helping people in an emergency?

5. What about ‘good neighbour’ acts outside work?

Helping in a professional capacity in your local community, or giving advice to friends or relatives, is less clear cut. Single, unpaid acts are unlikely to be considered practising as a pharmacist but repeated acts over a period, even if unpaid, may require appropriate indemnity cover. If you’re concerned about any potential liabilities, you should check with your insurer, trade union, professional body or defence organisation for advice on whether you have or need cover for such acts.