The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has proposed changing the continuing professional development (CPD) framework so that the records of pharmacy professionals are called at random rather than once every five years.

The GPhC has launched a consultation on the change, which it argues would allow it to take a more responsive and flexible approach to reviewing records.

Under the proposed change, the regulator would select a small portion (a minimum of 2.5 per cent) of pharmacy professionals on an annual basis for review but would increase the sample size where appropriate, for example if concerns were raised about registrants’ ability to meet CPD requirements. In practice, the new approach would mean that registrants could be called more or less frequently than every five years.

The proposed change is supported by the results of a pilot study and a qualitative review of the GPhC’s current approach to CPD conducted last year, which both indicated that a change to the framework might encourage pharmacy professionals to continuously record their activities, while continuing to meet the requirements at a level consistent with how they perform under the current five year cycle.

Commenting on the consultation launch GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin said: “Our proposed change to CPD underscores our commitment to improving the regulatory effectiveness and proportionality of our work, and ensuring that pharmacy professionals continue to demonstrate their professionalism by reflecting regularly on learning and development activities.

"CPD is a core professional responsibility and as the regulator we want to ensure that it continues to serve as a means of assuring public and patient safety.”

The consultation will run until 31 October. A link to the consultation can be found here.