We answer some common questions that you may have about our fitness to practise process.
Being fit to practise means a pharmacy professional has the skills, knowledge, health and character to do their job safely and effectively. They must also act professionally and meet the principles of good practice set out in our standards and guidance.
We investigate concerns about pharmacists and pharmacy technicians that could be a risk to patient safety or affect the public’s confidence in pharmacy services. We also deal with concerns about pharmacies. Examples of things we may investigate include:
dispensing errors
criminal conduct
dishonesty or fraud
working under the influence of drinks or drugs
having a health condition that affects the professional’s ability to practise safely
poor professional performance
practising while not on our register
We won’t investigate concerns about:
compensation claims
customer service issues, for example not receiving an apology from pharmacy staff
contract issues, for example hours of opening and charges for private prescriptions
We believe in taking a person-centred approach to fitness to practise. This means we put people at the heart of what we do to help us understand the concern raised and the impact on everyone involved. We believe in providing a high level of customer service, including:
Updates on the progress of the investigation
communicating with you clearly and tailoring our communications to address your needs
explaining what you can expect from us
handling your information with care
acting with professionalism, kindness and respect at all times
providing an accessible service to everyone involved
listening and responding to feedback and using this to learn and improve our services
If you have a concern raised about you or if you have raised a concern, a dedicated case officer will be assigned to your case. The case officer will investigate the concern and gather evidence to see what action is required. They will be your main point of contact during the investigation.
Occasionally, it will be necessary to transfer a concern to another case officer. If this happens, we’ll let you know and a new dedicated case officer will contact you to introduce themselves.
The length of an investigation depends on the nature of the concern and its complexity. We aim to finish an investigation as soon as possible. This is usually within six months of receiving a concern. We’ll keep you updated on the progress of the investigation every two months. At the end of the investigation, we’ll inform you of our decision.
Giving evidence before the Fitness to Practise Committee can seem daunting. We want to make your experience as a witness as positive as it can be and will support you throughout your involvement in the hearing.
A member of our witness team will provide you with information before you attend the hearing, including if the hearing is taking place remotely or in person. They’ll meet you on the morning of the hearing, introduce you to the person from the GPhC who is presenting our case to the Fitness to Practise Committee, and show you around the hearing room before you need to give your evidence.
Where possible, GPhC staff will give all witnesses the likely running order at the start of the day and keep you updated on when you’ll give your evidence. The chair of the committee will make sure the hearing is managed fairly. You’ll be given regular breaks and you can request one when you need it.
We welcome any questions you may have before attending a hearing. It’s important you feel at ease. After the hearing, there will be an opportunity to provide us with feedback on your experience as a witness. Any information you share will help us to review and improve our processes. We’ll let you know about the outcome of the hearing when it has been decided.
At this stage, we haven’t decided whether your fitness to practise is impaired. We need to assess the concern(s) raised before we can make a decision. You can continue to practise as a pharmacy professional unless we tell you not to. We’ll keep you regularly updated throughout the investigation and once we make any decision, we’ll let you know the outcome.
We recommend that you:
seek advice about the investigation from your professional body, defence organisations and legal professionals
cooperate with, and take part in, the process throughout
keep us informed of any change in your personal contact details
We’ll generally publish information on our website and online register about all outcomes decided by the investigating committee and the fitness to practise committee. But, if any private matters or sensitive information are involved, these decisions will either be edited or not published.
As well as the information we publish on the register and our website, we may give more information to employers and a limited number of relevant bodies such as other regulators.
If a concern has been raised about you, this won’t automatically result in your name being removed from the register. We’ll remove a pharmacy professional from our register for the most serious concerns, where their behaviour doesn’t meet the standards that we set for the profession.
The Fitness to Practise Committee will only remove someone from the register if it’s necessary to protect the public, maintain public confidence in the profession and uphold professional standards. The committee can’t remove a pharmacy professional’s registration if the concern raised is solely about their health.
Declaring a health condition may lead to an investigation and we recognise that this could be stressful. But it’s important to tell us about any health issues which may affect your ability to practise as a pharmacy professional. This will make sure that patients and the public using pharmacy services receive safe and effective care.
In most cases, health matters won’t raise formal fitness to practise concerns. Our health process is not designed to penalise you. It’s there to make sure you’re safe to practise.
At any point you need support, please let us know and we’ll be happy to help. Whether you’re raising a concern, making a self-declaration or attending a hearing, we can support you to make sure you’re feeling comfortable and well.
