The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is looking for pharmacists willing to be surveyed about their views on premises inspections.

The regulator contacted all pharmacists and technicians earlier this week to see if they would be willing to feed back their experiences of inspections to evaluation firm ICF International. Willing participants would be emailed by ICF in the next few weeks, although pharmacists could express their interest in a phone interview, the GPhC said on Wednesday (April 22).

The survey would also gather information on registrants’ understanding of the GPhC’s pharmacy standards, it said. Other questions would gauge views on the GPhC's use of action plans for pharmacies who had been inspected, and its intention to publish inspection reports once this was legally possible.

The survey’s results would be published later this year and would form “one element” of the GPhC’s “commitment to test whether we are meeting our objective of encouraging improvements in pharmacy”, it said. The survey would be separate to its specific review of its premises ratings system, planned for next year, the regulator said.

“The survey will be relevant to anyone working in - or responsible for - a registered pharmacy. We are particularly keen to hear from owners, superintendents, responsible pharmacist and managers, including those who have not yet been inspected under our new approach,” it added.

The GPhC said in February that this independent research would inform its consultation on regulating pharmacies that the GPhC planned to launch once the government had completed its own consultation on regulating the sector.

Pharmacists can opt out of the survey here.

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