The GPhC has failed to meet its own regulator’s standards for the timely processing of fitness-to-practise (FtP) cases for the sixth year running, the Professional Standards Authority’s (PSA) monitoring report for 2023/24 has revealed today (September 25).

The report found that the GPhC passed 17 of the 18 standards evaluated by the PSA, but one out of five of the regulator’s FtP performance standards remains a worry.

The regulator’s regulator noted that “timeliness has deteriorated” in the year running from July 2023 to end-June 2024 and that it is “still taking too long to progress FTP investigations”.

Read more: GPhC’s FtP red status improves to amber level after target reset

The PSA uses “three key measures” to evaluate the timeliness component of FtP standards, all of which worsened compared to last year, it said. 

And it announced that it has, again, written to the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) and the chair of the Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) to “provide an update on the GPhC’s performance”.

 

“Too early to see impact”

 

However, the PSA did acknowledge the GPhC’s interventions to right its FtP performance, including the appointment of a chief enforcement officer from January, “restructuring the casework team”, “upskilling” staff to perform investigations and reducing the overall caseload by 6%.

It also noted that the pharmacy regulator has experienced a “30% year on year increase in FtP referrals” since 2022, most of which were “low-level service complaints from members of the public” and not FtP concerns.

The PSA concluded that it was “still too early to see the impact” of the GPhC’s new approach to FtP processing.

Read more: FtP concerns reach ‘record high’ as GPhC performance remains in the red

Its report noted the pharmacy regulator’s “good practice” in its analysis of the equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) data of registrants facing FtP processes.

But the PSA also reported that it had received “concerns” about the GPhC’s shift to a “risk-based” approach to pharmacy inspections, adding that it would “keep a close eye on” the pharmacy regulator about these issues.

 

“Some way to go”

 

Responding to the report, GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin said that the regulator recognises “there is some way to go” to achieving its standards for FtP timeliness.

Nevertheless, he pointed to the regulator’s “positive and sustained improvements in productivity and timeliness”, adding that he is “confident that this will continue”.

Read more: Health secretary alerted as GPhC fails FtP standard for fifth consecutive year

“Ensuring a fair, proportionate, and timely resolution of fitness to practise concerns remains the highest priority for everyone at the GPhC,” Rudkin said.  

He added that the GPhC was “pleased” to have met “all other standards” as he hailed “the dedication and hard work” of the GPhC’s staff.

 

Red to amber

 

In September last year, the PSA alerted the health secretary to the “serious and ongoing delays” in clearing the GPhC’s FtP backlog for the fifth year in a row.

And last week, C+D reported that the GPhC has upgraded its FtP performance from red to amber as it tested itself against its “new objectives” for 2024/25.

Read more: GPhC appoints new FtP and pharmacy inspections executive leads

Its new FtP chief Dionne Spence told C+D at the time that the regulator's FtP “performance is improving” under her watch.

At her previous role at the General Optical Council, Spence was “pivotal” in that regulator “meeting all [of the PSA’s] 18 Standards of Good Regulation for the first time in over ten years”, the GPhC said at the announcement of her appointment in October.