In her last article in the current series, Asha Fowells submits her records and renews her registration...

This month was the big one: submitting my revalidation record to the GPhC and renewing my registration. To be honest, in years gone by, I haven’t really thought about it very much, instead simply clicking through the questions (I tend to steer clear of criminal activity, which makes it relatively straightforward), pausing for a moment to reflect on the CPD I have completed when I get to the declaration, then making my payment, baulking slightly at the amount.

This time it was a little different. I logged into the myGPhC portal (three password attempts needed; why I’m not able to get it right first time is baffling), and went into the Revalidation section.

I’d already logged my four records (three as planned CPD and one as unplanned), so it was a simple matter of clicking on “submit”. Immediately, my “Revalidation status” changed to “submitted” and a confirmation email came through.

To be honest, I was a little surprised. I had assumed that – as in years gone by – the revalidation submission would only go through if I had paid my GPhC retention fee. Yet this clearly wasn’t the case. So I clicked on the “Renewal” tab at the top of the page and went through the relevant process. This took considerably longer than I’d anticipated.

Maybe my memory is failing me, but I didn’t remember having to make declarations about indemnity arrangements and keeping details up-to-date.

Overkill?

The sections on reading and understanding the guidance on declarations, adhering to the standards for pharmacy professionals and having a sound grasp of the English language seemed familiar, but having to state that I understood what I’d completed and vouching for the integrity of the information provided (which was, after all, a series of yes or no answers) seemed overkill. Or perhaps a belt and braces approach is a more positive way of looking at it.

I read and answered all the statements carefully – having a minor trauma about whether “no” in response to not having done something would invalidate the whole thing – then went through to the payment page. No surprises here, just a familiar wince at the cost, and soon enough the email confirmation had arrived in my inbox.

I made a note of the payment for my accounts, although it is easy to view and access a receipt on the myGPhC portal, and that was that. In a way it felt a little underwhelming: revalidation had almost faded into insignificance against the payment side of things, which doesn’t feel right.

But then I looked at the first confirmation email and the words struck me: “If your records are selected for review…”. Ah yes, I had got so caught up in the process, I’d forgotten that was a possibility! It isn’t a done deal after all. Time will tell…

For help with your revalidation, click here.