Annual General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) renewal fees for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacies will increase by 6% from September.
Announced today, the annual fee hike will allow the pharmacy regulator to “respond to the increasing volume and complexity of its work and continue to effectively protect the public and empower pharmacists and pharmacy technicians”, it said.
“Pharmacy teams are taking on wider responsibilities and providing more services as pharmacy practice rapidly evolves,” the GPhC acknowledged.
But it noted that while this “will improve access to healthcare for patients”, these changes will also increase the “work the GPhC needs to do to effectively regulate pharmacy” and support teams to “deliver safe practice”.
Read more: GPhC approves one-year 6% fee hike but pauses 2026 rise
From September 2026:
- Pharmacist annual renewal fees will increase by £17 to £310
- Pharmacy technician annual renewal fees will increase by £8 to £146
- Pharmacy premises annual renewal fees will increase by £25 to £441
According to the pharmacy regulator, this equates to “a £1.42 a month increase for pharmacists, a 67p a month increase for pharmacy technicians and a £2.08 a month increase for pharmacy premises”.
“More regular” fee hikes
The GPhC also said that it intends to “move to a more regular and incremental approach to fee increases, aligned with inflation in future years, to avoid the need for large increases”.
And it will also “review and consult on the way pharmacy premises fees are set to reflect changes in the sector”, it added.
It explained that the GPhC council agreed at its March meeting that an increase in fees was “necessary” due to the organisation’s workload and with costs continuing to “significantly increase as it regulates in this rapidly changing healthcare environment”.
Read more: IN FULL: GPhC proposes two-year 6% fee hike amid ‘rising costs’
“The GPhC has seen a striking increase in the number and complexity of concerns raised by the public and others, with almost 9,750 concerns received in 2025-26 so far – an increase of 77% since 2023-24,” it said.
And inspection activity has also increased by “over 60% since 2023/24 with almost 2000 inspections expected to be delivered this year”, it added.
The pharmacy regulator also revealed that it had agreed the budget and the delivery plan for 2026/27 at its March Council meeting, noting that it will be “published shortly” and will set out “how fees will be used”, among other things.
Decision “not taken lightly”
GPhC chief executive Kathie Cashell said that she is “committed to making sure the GPhC delivers its vital work as efficiently as possible”, noting that the regulator has “already delivered savings of £700,000 and set a target to make total savings of at least £1.5 million by 2028”.
This will allow the GPhC to “respond to the significant increases in demand and avoid large fee increases in the future”, she added.
Cashell acknowledged the financial pressures pharmacy teams and pharmacy businesses are under, stressing that the regulator “has not taken this decision lightly”.
Read more: UPDATED: GPhC rubberstamps plans to hike registration fees by 7.5%
It comes after the GPhC launched a consultation in January 2025 on two years of proposed hikes to annual registration fees for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy owners.
The pharmacy regulator later confirmed in July that fees from last September would increase by 6% but said that it would “reflect further before making any decisions about fee levels for 2026”.
