In an update on its website published yesterday (October 4), the regulator wrote that it has decided to further extend the changes to its revalidation requirements it made in March 2020 “in recognition of the continuing pressures linked to the COVID-19 pandemic that pharmacy professionals are likely to face this winter”.

Prior to March 2020, pharmacy professionals submitting their revalidation records needed to submit five other revalidation documents, including a peer discussion record and continuing professional development logs.

Changes to revalidation requirements in place until February 2022

The latest extension to the changes to the GPhC’s revalidation requirements will continue until “at least the end of February 2022”, GPhC CEO Duncan Rudkin said.

Pharmacy registrants who need to renew their registration in December, January or February are therefore exempt from submitting the other five revalidation records, the GPhC clarified.

However, they are still expected to “reflect on one or more” of the following three standards when completing their reflective account:

• standard 3 - pharmacy professionals must communicate effectively
• standard 6 - pharmacy professionals must behave professionally
• standard 9 - pharmacy professionals must demonstrate leadership.

Three months’ notice

Mr Rudkin added: “We will give pharmacy professionals a minimum of three months’ notice of when full revalidation requirements will be reintroduced, to give pharmacists and pharmacy professionals a reasonable amount of time to get their records ready for submission”.

He said the GPhC hopes to reintroduce “full revalidation requirements” as soon as the emergency powers for the pandemic are lifted, “but we will continue to keep this under active review”.

Last March, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) postponed the revalidation submission date for registrants who were due to submit between March 20 and August 31, “due to the challenges and pressures on the pharmacy sector…and the increasing number of cases of COVID-19”, it said at the time.

Registrants with a renewal deadline of between September 1 and December 31 were later told to only submit a reflective account for their revalidation entry that year.

The same flexibility was granted to those having to renew their registration between November 30 and January 31, 2022.