About the temporary register
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in Great Britain that met our criteria* were registered on a temporary basis to work or volunteer in a role in 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 UK Government has asked us to keep our temporary register open until 2024. We wrote to everyone on the temporary register in April 2023 to ask them to confirm if they are working or volunteering as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2023, we will update the temporary register so that it only includes pharmacy professionals that are currently working or volunteering in a Covid-related role.
Temporary register: Q&A
Pharmacy professionals that want to remain on the temporary register will need to complete this form, which includes fitness to practise declarations and a reflective account.
People that want to be removed from the temporary register, are requested to fill in this survey to opt out.
For further details, follow this link to see answers to common questions about temporary registration.
Download the temporary register [xls 273 KB]
Updated 01 June 2023. 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 webpage, rather than relying on copies from other sources.
Please note there are separate tabs on the spreadsheet for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians; make sure you select the correct tab, when looking for your details on the temporary register.
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 rapidly register pharmacy professionals to assist in the national response to the COVID-19 emergency. The UK Government has since asked us to keep our temporary register open until 2024.
*The temporary register includes pharmacy professionals who had voluntarily removed themselves or were removed for non-renewal from the GPhC register in three years previous to March 2020 and did not have any 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.
Guidance for employers
In March 2020, we produced guidance for employers on their responsibilities [PDF 169 KB] if they employed a pharmacy professional on the temporary register.
Survey of pharmacy professionals on the temporary register
In April 2020, we conducted a survey to help us understand how many pharmacy professionals on the temporary register would be working during the height of the pandemic, and what settings they were planning to work in. We received 1,309 responses to the survey (a 21% response rate). Follow this link to see the report's findings. [PDF 253 KB]