Following the government's confirmation that emergency powers put in place to help with the response to the COVID-19 pandemic will be removed, the full revalidation requirements will be reinstated from October, the GPhC announced today (March 23).

This means pharmacy professionals will once again have to submit the following six revalidation records when they renew:

• four continuing professional development (CPD) records (two of which must be planned events)

• one peer discussion

• one reflective account.

“The selection of three standards which pharmacists should use to write their reflective account will be reviewed and updated in May 2022,” the regulator added.

Previous changes to revalidation requirements

In March 2020, the 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 between September 1 and December 31 were later told to only submit a reflective account for their revalidation entry that year, an approach that was then extended to those having to renew their registration in December, January or February 2022.

Read more: Pharmacy revalidation: everything you need to know