Pharmacists are humans and making dispensing errors is fairly common. There were nearly 13,500 reported incidents involving medication errors in community pharmacies in England and Wales in 2013-2014.

This means that every one of the 12,500 community pharmacies in England and Wales had made a dispensing or medication error at some stage during the year. While the low rate of reporting is open to discussion, each error or incident has the potential to give rise to a complaint and ultimately a financial claim.

In addition to this, there is also the prospect of an investigation by the GPhC, or PSNI (if you practice in Northern Ireland).

There has been a disproportionate rise in complaints over the past year. According to the GPhC, the largest proportion of complaints come from members of the public (69 per cent). Complaints that have been referred to the GPhC go through several stages of investigation before ever getting to a Fitness to Practise Committee (FtPC). In 2014 only 7.5 per cent of complaints were heard by the FtPC.percent

The vast majority of complaints arise from dispensing errors. 'One-off' single dispensing incidents are usually dealt with through a letter of advice. Repeat errors are referred to the Investigation Committee.

The GPhC has issued guidelines about dealing with dispensing errors.