General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) - News updates


NHS England clinical policy on puberty suppressing hormones

NHS England has recently published its clinical policy on puberty suppressing hormones. This sets out that puberty suppressing hormones are not available as a routine commissioning treatment option for treatment of children and young people in England who have gender incongruence/gender dysphoria.

Our Contact Centre on Thursday 21 March

The contact centre will be closed today between 12.30-1.30pm for training, but will re-open again from 1.30pm. During this time please email any enquiries to info@pharmacyregulation.org.

Tackling discrimination and bias: our hearings and outcomes guidance

The GPhC has published updated hearings and outcomes guidance for decision-makers in fitness to practise cases. We consulted on changes to our hearings and outcomes guidance for decision-makers, to strengthen our approach to dealing with cases involving discrimination, harassment and bullying. 

The majority of pharmacy technicians feel well prepared for practice after training according to new research

Research commissioned by the GPhC examined how the 2017 standards for the initial education and training of pharmacy technicians (IETPT) have affected professional practice. The research was commissioned by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) in 2023 and carried out by the Centre for Pharmacy Workforce Studies (CPWS) at the University of Manchester and the consultancy service, ICF. 

Contact centre on 7 March 2024

The contact centre will be closed on the morning of Thursday 7 March for training purposes and will reopen again at 1pm on the same day. During this time please email any enquiries to info@pharmacyregulation.org.

Racism and language barriers in pharmacy – insights and actions following our roundtable events

The General Pharmaceutical Council has published new reports on racism and other inequalities in pharmacy following our roundtable event.

GPhC appoints new Chair of the Board of Assessors

The General Pharmaceutical Council has appointed Dr Mat Smith as the new Chair of the Board of Assessors. The role of the Board of Assessors is to assure the registration assessment, through setting and moderating the question papers. All decisions about questions, papers, candidates and pass marks are made by the board.

Statement on the reclassification of codeine linctus

Commenting on the reclassification of codeine linctus, Roz Gittins, Chief Pharmacy Officer and Deputy Registrar at the GPhC, said: "We welcome the decision by the MHRA to reclassify codeine linctus to a prescription-only medicine.  We think this important change will help to protect public safety. Codeine linctus, which can be used for a dry cough, is well-known to be associated with problematic use.

Reminder to check the registration and identity of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians

We have sent an email reminder to those who employ pharmacy professionals of the importance of checking both registration and identity.  In addition to checking a pharmacist or pharmacy technician is on our register, appropriate identity checks should also be carried out by the employer. These checks need to be undertaken when employing locums as well as permanent pharmacy professionals.

GPhC Council meeting on 22 February 2024

The Council of the GPhC will be meeting on Thursday 22 February. Please contact our Council secretary by 4pm on Wednesday 21 February 2024, if you would like to attend the meeting.