The NPA has called on the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) to amend its "unreasonable" time limits for pharmacists to respond to premises inspections.

If GPhC inspectors find that a pharmacy does not meet the regulator's premises standards, they can issue an action plan to which the contractor or superintendent is expected to respond within two days.

This timeframe was "onerous and unnecessary", particularly if an independent contractor had to focus on other "time-critical" matters, said NPA board chairman Ian Strachan last week (July 10).

The GPhC needed to recognise the "administrative realities" of independent pharmacies, which would be unable to draw on head office resources to respond to an inspector's demands at short notice, Mr Strachan said.

"High-risk" issues should be dealt with urgently by pharmacies, but other actions to improve a pharmacy's procedures following an inspection should be addressed within "realistic timelines" to prevent unnecessary disruption or a negative impact on patient care, the NPA said.

GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin said the regulator was grateful for the NPA's feedback and that the time limit to make changes was one of a number of topics the GPhC was keeping under "active review".

"We intend to discuss these with pharmacy colleagues as part of a collaborative approach to learn from the prototype [inspection model] in the coming months," he told C+D.

Mr Rudkin defended the GPhC's decision to ensure pharmacies were required to "act swiftly" when it identified issues that could affect patient safety.

The NPA is still gathering feedback from its members about their experiences of GPhC inspections. Members can email [email protected] to give their feedback.

	What would be a realistic timeframe for you to respond to a GPhC action plan?