EXCLUSIVE

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has defended its policy of conducting unannounced premises inspections against concerns from pharmacists.

Although feedback about the new inspection regime had been "very positive" overall, GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin told C+D there had been some concerns over the lack of a fixed date for premises inspections.

But Mr Rudkin said he still believed in the current approach of informing pharmacies an inspection would take place in the next four to six weeks, without revealing the time or date.

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	"We still feel it's right for inspections to be unannounced," he told C+D in an exclusive interview last week (February 7). "From the public's point of view, that's really important because the standards should be met every day, so there's an element of needing to be assured that what we see is what normally happens."

There had also been some concerns over the length of the inspections, Mr Rudkin added. But he stressed that the GPhC was continually reviewing the concerns and that the new model was still "in prototype mode".

Overall, Mr Rudkin said feedback on the new regime from pharmacists involved in last year's pilot of the inspections and the soft-launch in November had been positive. Views given to the GPhC would be compiled into a report, to be made public in time for the next council meeting in April, he said.

"From what I've seen, there's a growing awareness and appreciation of the standards and the approach the inspectors are taking," he reported.

The new regime sought to move away from a "prescriptive or rules-based approach" to look for evidence that pharmacies were consistently maintaining a safe and effective environment, the GPhC said on its website.

Pharmacies will be given one of four ratings – poor, satisfactory, good or excellent – but details of these will not be made public until the standards are fully in force later this year.

The inspections will look at five main principles: risk management, staffing, equipment and facilities, the delivery of services and the premises themselves.

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