The Labour MP Sadik Al-Hassan has warned pharmacy is moving towards a “lower regulation environment” and claimed pharmacies can wait as long as 13 years for a General Pharmaceutical Council inspection.

In an interview with Independent Community Pharmacist, Al-Hassan (pictured) said he was concerned the number of inspections is falling at a time when the number of complaints about pharmacies is increasing.

According to the GPhC’s data, complaints from the public have risen in recent years, from 1,745 in 2022 to 2,888 last year. In 2023, the GPhC made 878 routine inspections out of 13,805 registered pharmacy premises. In 2019, it made 3,667 inspections out of 14,314 premises and 2,892 inspections out of 14,181 premises in 2020.

Al-Hassan said when he started in pharmacy over 15 years ago, the GPhC was carrying out an inspection “every two to four years” but now go years without doing so. He also said if a pharmacist moves every five or six years between pharmacies, they will “never see a GPhC inspector.”

“In a healthcare-regulated environment, that is quite a low threshold for inspections. And in this time, you’ve also seen the number of complaints about pharmacy service increase,” he said.

He called for more frequent “mini-inspections” and “bigger inspections” which would ensure patients have access to “safer, stronger, more reproduceable pharmacy environments that people can trust.”

“I think there are elements of the pharmacy sector that are incredibly happy to carry on and do their own thing,” he said. “I personally believe that a more visible, more active pharmacy regulator will improve patient safety across the network. And I am eager to help that situation occur.

“I worry about the future of the profession for a couple of reasons; one, we don’t know our distinct identity. Second, we are moving to a lower regulation environment, which I think is the wrong direction.”

In January, the Pharmacists’ Defence Association chairman Mark Koziol told the health and social care committee’s enquiry on pharmacy that the Care Quality Commission should regulate pharmacy premises and the GPhC “should concentrate on the people regulation.”

“We have maintained this position for years, that we believe community pharmacy premises should be looked after by the CQC. There is no question about that whatsoever. Not only that, business owners need to be regulated,” he said.

Al-Hassan did not agree the CQC should regulate pharmacy premises, insisting it “has its own problems at the moment,” and called for the GPhC to receive more support.

“I think the GPhC has an enormous challenge at the moment to regulate the pharmacy sector and I don’t think it’s been helped by subsequent governments in the way it operates and regulates,” he said. “All the regulators in the healthcare sector have faced immense challenges over the number of concerns that have gone up and issues.

“You see it in the CQC, you see it in the GPhC, it is not an isolated incident but I think there needs to be a uniform approach to help regulators to get back on a sure footing to offer the highest levels of patient safety.”

GPhC: We're reviewing our 'inspection methodology'

The GPhC’s chief pharmacy officer Roz Gittins told ICP the regulator was “continuing to take a risk-based approach to inspections.”

“Currently pharmacies are inspected in response to intelligence received, due to a thematic review, or through a random selection process, rather than the date of when they were last visited,” she said.

She insisted the GPhC is reviewing its “inspection methodology” and will discuss its “updated approach” with its governing council in December.

“We are also refining our inspection reports to improve the consistency and clarity of the information provided, and this will be implemented early in the new year,” she said.