PLEA News

2022-02-15 14:37:03 In Hughes v Rattan [2022] EWCA Civ 107, the Court of Appeal has ruled on the liability of the owner of a dental practice when dental associates negligently cause injury to a patient. The status of self-employed dental associates bears similarities to the status of locum pharmacists. The

2022-02-08 16:53:36 The Professional Standards Authority has just published its review of the General Pharmaceutical Council’s performance for the period 1 March 2020 to 28 February 2022. The full report is here https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/docs/default-source/publications/performance-reviews/performance-review-gphc-2020-21.pdf?sfvrsn=b32d4820_6 You may remember that we have reported in previous years on deficiencies found by the PSA. In

2022-02-02 15:43:00 In News exactly one year ago today, we reported on the Supreme Court decision in Various Claimants v Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc [2020] UKSC 12. An employee of the supermarket business had published the confidential information of numerous fellow employees who sought to hold Morrisons vicariously liable.  The

2022-01-26 11:19:31 The GPhC is currently (until 8 February 2022) consulting on a proposal to allow Fitness to Practise hearings to be held remotely, extending indefinitely an arrangement that was introduced on an time-limited basis during the pandemic. A response to the consultation has been submitted on behalf of PLEA.

2021-12-05 12:45:02 In Dr Samuel White v General Medical Council [2021] EWHC 3286 (Admin), the High Court considered an interim order that curtailed freedom of expression, following the posting of views on social media, including a seven-minute video on Instagram. Although healthcare fitness to practise tribunals have considered numerous cases

2021-11-02 17:36:41 The Botulinum Toxin and Cosmetic Fillers (Children) Act 2021 came into effect on 1 October 2021. The Act, which applies only in England and Wales, started out life as a Private Members Bill. The Act creates two offences. It is an offence to administer to a person under

2021-11-02 15:30:36 PLEA Executive member, Andrea James, has published a blog on the current GPhC consultation on independent prescribing https://www.brabners.com/blogs/all-change-pharmacist-independent-prescribers  Noel Wardle’s article on community pharmacy being front and centre in the COVID-19 inquiry was published by Chemist & Druggist https://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/CD135509/Community-pharmacy-should-be-front-and-centre-during-the-COVID-19-inquiry  Susan Hunneyball’s article on pharmacists having read-write access to patients’ records

2021-09-26 13:39:25 Last December, we reported that pharmacies may be required to appoint Caldicott Guardians this year.  The National Data Guardian has used her statutory powers to publish new guidance on the appointment, role and responsibilities of Caldicott Guardians https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1013756/Caldicott_Guardian_guidance_v1.0_27.08.21.pdf The guidance recommends the appointment of a Caldicott Guardian not just

2021-09-19 19:47:15 In Bell v Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust [2021] EWCA Civ 1363, the Court of Appeal has overtunred the Divisional Court’s decision on the the continuing practice of the Tavistock Cliniic to prescribe puberty-suppressing hormone blockers to children under the age of 18 who experience gender dysphoria.

2021-09-15 15:09:23 Consent, Gillick ccmpetence and the role of case examiners were considered in two recent cases. AB v CD [2021] EWHC 741 (Fam) concerned X, a 15-year-old who wished to continue her hormone treatment to suppress puberty. Following the earlier decision in Bell v Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation

2021-08-24 11:54:11 The PSNC, DHSC and NHS England & Improvement (NHSE&I) have announced agreement for year 3 of the 5-year Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework in England. The agreement includes an announcement of regulatory changes to be made to the NHS terms of service in the NHS (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical

2021-08-19 11:50:15 We are resending this news item with the correct link. Apologies to anyone who tried to use the link in our earlier email. The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) carries out annual reviews of 10 healthcare regulators including the GPhC. In its last report on the GPhC, as we

2021-08-18 11:33:04 The MHRA is conducting a consultation on Point of Care (“POC”) manufacturing https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/point-of-care-consultation/consultation-on-point-of-care-manufacturing According to the MHRA, new types of innovative products are increasingly being manufactured at the point where a patient receives care, eg personalised medicines made for the patient either within or very close to the

2021-08-17 12:14:19 In the GPhC’s recent consultation on its Fitness to Practise strategy, it sought views on when to use remote hearings and what impact they may have. In our response, we set out what we saw as the advantages and disadvantages of remote hearings. We concluded that the default

2021-08-13 12:26:49  The GPhC has written to pharmacy owners and pharmacy professionals, reminding them of the need to follow its guidance on providing pharmacy services at a distance, including on the internet. The letter https://www.pharmacyregulation.org/sites/default/files/document/patient-safety-concerns-relating-to-online-prescribing-services-letter-august-2021.pdf sent by the GPhC’s Director of Insight, Intelligence and Inspection (who spoke at the last

2021-07-28 15:42:24 Each year PLEA runs a law and ethics essay competition to foster wider thinking on issues of the day by students at UK and Ireland schools of Pharmacy.   This years competition title for consideration was “The legal and ethical implications of using volunteers to supply medicines during

2021-07-21 10:56:00  The GPhC has published its annual fitness to practise report for 2020/21. Amongst other things, the report refers to: 46 enforcement notices were served on pharmacies (45 were improvement notices and 5 imposed conditions). In the case of 35 pharmacies, enforcement action followed “intelligence-led” inspections revealing inappropriate, unusually

2021-07-19 19:03:15 Directive 85/374/EEC – the Product Liability Directive – was designed to harmonise product liability laws across what is now the EU. In the UK, this gave rise to the Consumer Protection Act 1987. Under the Directive and the Act, liability for defective products is strict and a claimant

2021-07-02 12:28:37 In Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care v General Pharmaceutical Council and Ali ([2021] EWHC 1692 (Admin), the PSA has successfully appealed against a decision of the GPhC’s Fitness to Practise Committee in the case of Mr Nazim Hussain Ali, who was accused of broadcasting antisemitic

2021-05-20 15:21:11 If a healthcare professional contests allegations that are found proved, should the fact that the allegations have been contested be held against them in Fitness to Practise proceedings? That is a question that Mr Justice Mostyn grappled with in   Towuaghantse v General Medical Council [2021] EWHC 681

2021-05-13 17:07:20 The Queen’s Speech this week announced two pieces of legislation that will probably affect pharmacy practice. There will be a Health and Care Bill which will presumably implement the proposals in the Government’s recent White Paper, including subsuming Clinical Commissioning Groups into Integrated Care Systems. A Professional Qualifications

2021-03-31 12:29:27 According to a report in the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/mar/28/parents-of-boy-with-severe-epilepsy-drop-cannabis-challenge , the parents of a three-year-old have dropped a judicial review claim against NICE in which they intended to argue NICE guidelines on the prescribing of medicinal cannabis which, they said “put doctors off prescribing ‘live-saving treatment’” Prescribing cannabis was

2021-03-21 18:54:10 Last year, COVID-19 was added to the list of notifiable diseases in Schedule 1 to the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010. This Schedule lists diseases that doctors must notify to Public Health England if a case is detected in a patient. The addition of COVID-19 to the list

2021-03-10 18:47:50 There have been no recent manslaughter prosecutions of pharmacists, but the recent case of R v Rebelo ([2021] EWCA Crim 306) sheds light on the legal position if a patient overdoses on a drug of abuse sold in a pharmacy. Bernard Rebelo ran an online business which sold

2021-02-24 18:11:50 The recent decision in General Pharmaceutical Council v Rabadia [2021] 2 WLUK 258 illustrates how difficult it can be to remove oneself from the GPhC’s register if fitness to practise proceedings are pending, and how things may change in future. Mr Rabadia had worked as a locum pharmacist. 

2021-02-17 16:12:31 We are deeply saddened to report the death from COVID-19 of our founder, Joy Wingfield. Joy was chair of the Pharmacy Law & Ethics Association until 2015. Early in Joy’s career, she was an inspector of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain when it was the regulator

2021-02-15 12:02:30 The Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021 received the Royal Assent on 11 February 2021. To a large extent, the Act was necessitated by the pre-Brexit abolition of the European Communities Act 1972. The 1972 Act had provided powers to amend EU legislation that had been introduced in

2021-01-12 17:43:49 Last July, we reported on the Cumberlege Review which followed the PIP breast implant scandal. The Government has just published its response to the review https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/update-on-the-governments-response-to-the-independent-medicines-and-medical-devices-safety-review . Points of note include: The Government has tabled an amendment to the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill to establish the role

2021-01-11 16:11:47 Members have written a number of articles of interest recently – Andrea James’ blog on a Coroner’s report into a death after a pharmacy error that followed a prescription change aimed at reducing pharmacy visits http://insights.brabners.com/post/102go2u/prevention-of-future-deaths-report-issued-following-community-pharmacy-error Noel Wardle’s Chemist & Druggist blog How pharmacists can avoid supplying the

2021-01-07 18:53:37 The tort of defamation (usually involving libel) does not often impinge on pharmacy law. It is covered in the current edition of Dale & Appelbe’s Pharmacy and Medicines Law, but the forthcoming 12th edition will feature other torts instead. The recent case of Onwude v Dyer, Godlee and