GPhC must ‘do more’ to support pre-regs, says student body

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) “needs to do more” to support pre-regs ahead of their postponed exam, the British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (BPSA) has said.

online%20pharmacy%20computer.jpg
The BPSA has urged the GPhC to provide clarity about the upcoming pre-reg exam.

In light of the postponed pre-registration exam – due to take place sometime in the first three months of 2021 – the BPSA has called on the GPhC to provide “further details regarding the exam” in an open letter to the regulator posted on Twitter on Monday (October 5).

The letter, signed by BPSA president Regan McCahill on behalf of the students' body, said it is becoming “increasingly difficult to accept the lack of clarity and information after such a lengthy period, especially as this had a significant detrimental impact on members' mental health and wellbeing”.

It asked the GPhC to “increase the frequency of updates, provide more clarity regarding the assessment [and] resit opportunities, and to further encourage employers to support all those awaiting the registration assessment”.

The GPhC declined to comment.

Pre-registration assessments postponed due to COVID-19

The GPhC announced its decision to postpone the 2020 registration assessments due to COVID-19on March 26. In May, it told C+D that the pandemic had accelerated existing plans to move to an online registration assessment.

Last month (September 21), the regulator said it could not “confirm an exact date” for the online registration assessment until a provider had ben appointed.

In an update at the end of the month (September 30), the GPhC announced that it had identified a “preferred supplier” and that the postponed exam would be held in the first quarter of next year – avoiding the first two weeks of January. The regulator was not able to give an exact date for the rescheduled exam but said candidates can expect further updates in October.

The BPSA has asked the GPhC to provide an exact exam date and resit date, and to share the exam rubric by the end of November.

It has also asked that the regulator “facilitate a mini-mock online exam to mimic the online exam conditions”and provide “clarification on if the exam will count towards one of three sits”.

Latest from News

Supermarket cough medicines recalled over ‘foreign material’

 

A manufacturer is recalling several batches of cough medicine, including some it produces for Tesco and Asda, after “foreign material” was found in some bottles.

‘Open every day since 1952’: Wicker Pharmacy celebrates 73 years

 

Award-winning Wicker Pharmacy in Sheffield has celebrated 73 years of late opening “every single day”.

ICB investigating plunge in Pharmacy First GP referrals

 
• By 

A London integrated care board (ICB) is “working to understand” a national dip in Pharmacy First referrals from GPs in the summer, C+D has learned.

More from Regulation