GPhC meets 17 of 18 regulatory standards in PSA performance review

The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) has found that the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) met 17 of the 18 Standards of Good Regulation during 2025/26, highlighting strong performance across most areas of its regulatory work while identifying ongoing concerns about the timeliness of fitness to practise case resolution.

The annual review, which covers the period from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026, assessed the GPhC’s performance against the PSA’s Standards of Good Regulation and included an audit of its fitness to practise function. The findings have been reported to Parliament as part of the PSA’s oversight of healthcare professional regulators.

According to the PSA, the regulator met all five General Standards, all standards relating to Guidance and Standards, Education and Training, and Registration, as well as four of the five fitness to practise standards.

The review highlighted a number of areas where the GPhC is performing strongly, including its work to embed equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) throughout its regulatory activities, the quality of its fitness to practise investigations and decision-making, and its engagement with pharmacy stakeholders. The PSA said the regulator continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to EDI, citing strengthened standards and guidance, improved data collection and stakeholder engagement, and work to address differential attainment in pharmacy education and training. Updated guidance on Islamophobia and antisemitism was also identified as an example of good practice.

The GPhC’s response to emerging developments in pharmacy was also recognised. During the review period, the regulator continued work to strengthen safeguards around the online supply of medicines, consulted on new standards for pharmacy technicians and superintendent pharmacists, and supported the implementation of pharmacist independent prescribing.

However, the PSA found that the GPhC did not meet Standard 15, which relates to the timely resolution of fitness to practise cases. While the fitness to practise audit provided strong assurance around the quality of investigations, decision-making, risk management and support provided to those involved in cases, concerns remain about the length of time some cases take to conclude.

The PSA noted that the median end-to-end time for fitness to practise cases has increased since 2018/19 and confirmed that it has provided a written update to health ministers and relevant parliamentary committees under its escalation policy.

The GPhC highlighted progress made in tackling older cases, with the number of cases open for more than two years falling from 179 to 142 and those open for more than three years reducing from 109 to 78 during the reporting period.

Despite the remaining challenges, the review concludes that the GPhC continues to meet the overwhelming majority of regulatory standards, with the PSA encouraging the regulator to build on recent improvements while continuing efforts to improve fitness to practise timeliness and demonstrate the impact of its EDI initiatives.

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