New standards for pharmacy professionals came into effect on Friday (May 12). The nine standards describe how safe and effective care is delivered through person-centred professionalism, and replace the previous standards of conduct, ethics and performance. 

The GPhC has written to all pharmacy professionals to ask them to reflect on how to apply the standards in their practice. The regulator has also written to superintendent pharmacists and asked them to discuss with those who own and govern their pharmacies how they will fulfil their shared responsibility to create an environment in which pharmacy professionals working in their pharmacies are able to meet these standards.

The standards reflect feedback from more than 2,700 pharmacy professionals and organisations, members of the public and other stakeholders about what is important in receiving safe and effective care; what it means to be a professional; and what will uphold public trust in pharmacy. The standards are a statement of what people expect from pharmacy professionals, and also reflect what pharmacy professionals have told us they expect of themselves and their colleagues, says the GPhC.

Key themes emphasised in the standards include: person-centred care, demonstrating leadership, and greater accountability on the part of pharmacy professionals.

The new standards are less prescriptive, having been reduced from 57 to nine, with examples under each one to illustrate how they might apply in practice.

Duncan Rudkin, chief executive and registrar for the GPhC, said: “These new standards will empower pharmacy professionals to use their skills, expertise and professionalism to provide safe and effective care to their patients, and to uphold the trust their patients place in them. 

“All pharmacy professionals should now consider how to embed the standards in their practice, and should apply the standards whenever they are making professional judgements. We hope the standards will also act as a springboard for discussions about professionalism and person-centred care across pharmacy.

“Superintendent pharmacists and pharmacy owners also have an important responsibility to enable and support the registrants working for them to meet these standards, by providing an environment where professionalism can flourish.”

The GPhC has launched an interactive app so pharmacy professionals can access the standards, guidance and resources on smartphones and tablets.

All pharmacy professionals should now consider how to embed the standards in their practice