17.09.19
GPhC to begin publishing pharmacy inspections reports publicly
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has begun publishing pharmacy inspection reports online, with the aim of “providing assurance and driving improvement” among the UK’s pharmacies.
Launching a new website to host the reports, the major change for pharmacy will help inform and assure the public about the standards they can expect from pharmacies and drive improvement within services.
These inspection reports were already being carried out, but the GPhC was only recently awarded the legal powers to publicly publish them – and took time to carefully consult on plans for publishing the information with patients, the public and the pharmacy sector to ensure it suited all users’ needs.
Members of the public using the new pharmacy inspections website will be able to easily find and use information about the pharmacies they use. They will be able to view whether the site has been inspected since 2019, has met or not met all of the standards for registered pharmacies and how well it is performing against five principles.
The model follows similarly to the existing Care Quality Commission (CQC) system for healthcare providers.
Duncan Rudkin, chief executive of the GPhC, said: “Publishing inspection reports for the first time is a significant milestone in pharmacy regulation and gives the public and the pharmacy sector access to a wealth of information that they can use to inform the decisions they make.
“We believe it will give greater assurance to patients and the public that almost all pharmacies are meeting standards, and that we make sure those pharmacies not meeting standards take the necessary steps to do so.
“We know from carrying out thousands of inspections that pharmacies will only perform well against the standards if pharmacy owners have made sure that their pharmacies have the right governance, systems and culture in place, and are investing in their staff. Once these elements are in place, the pharmacy staff then are able to deliver good and excellent practice for the patients and the public using their services.”