2025-09-28 10:36:53
Earlier this year, PLEA responded to an invitation from the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) to comment on the performance of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). Last week, the PSA published its annual report https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/sites/default/files/attachments/Performance%20Review%20-%20GPhC%202024-25.pdf . It found that the GPhC met 17 out of the PSA’s 18 standards.
The GPhC met 4 out of 5 standards in relation to Fitness to Practise. The PSA said:
“The GPhC did not meet Standard 15 again this year because it is still taking too long to process fitness to practise (FtP) cases, despite the efforts the GPhC has made this last year to reduce its caseload including legacy cases. We have escalated our concerns to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Health and Social Care Committee Chair.”
The PSA referred to feedback that some cases had been running for five years, and went on to say:
“Feedback received from stakeholders during the review period has been mixed. For instance, some stakeholders said that they have seen improvements in timeliness, notably at the triage stage, whilst others told us that cases are still taking too long to progress.
In response, the GPhC said there are a small number of very aged cases that remain under investigation after five years, usually cases which have been on hold pending a third-party investigation. It explained that most aged cases are now awaiting a hearing or are in the pre-hearing preparation stage and the GPhC said it continues to move them through as quickly as possible. We have seen that improvements have been made in reducing the number of open older cases during the review period. We note that as these cases conclude this has impacted on the GPhC’s timeliness leading to the end-to-end median increasing.
While we recognise the additional challenges the GPhC has faced from the increase in referral numbers, the GPhC is still taking too long to resolve fitness to practise cases awaiting committee decision and therefore Standard 15 remains not met. In accordance with our escalation policy, we have provided an update letter regarding our concerns to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Health and Social Care Committee Chair. Nevertheless, we acknowledged that the GPhC is continuing to take steps to address this as it continues to reduce its aged caseload.”
The PSA also identified an area for improvement. The GPhC’s fitness to practise guidance documents do not refer to allegations of racist and other discriminatory behaviour when assessing and investigating concerns. The GPhC is currently undertaking a review of all guidance, policies and process notes but, because this has not yet been completed, the PSA considered this remained an area for improvement.