Fitness-to-practise information should be shared between European pharmacy regulators, with alerts triggered whenever pharmacists are suspended or have conditions imposed on their practice, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has said.

This would help to protect patients by reducing the risk of a pharmacist being suspended from practice in one member state but continuing to work in another, the GPhC said.

The comments came as GPhC chief executive and registrar Duncan Rudkin gave oral evidence to a House of Lords subcommittee in response to an EU review of the mobility of healthcare professionals.

Key points raised by Mr Rudkin included the need to establish a duty on European regulators to share fitness-to-practise information and the need for clearer rules about when regulators could test pharmacists' language competencies.

The GPhC also called for all those wishing to join the English pharmacy register following to a break from practise to be tested on "return to practise" requirements, wherever they qualified.

In a written response to the House of Lords subcommittee, the GPhC stressed: "If fitness-to-practise information is not shared efficiently and effectively, a professional could be erased or suspended in one jurisdiction while continuing to practise in another – such a situation is a serious risk to patient safety."