The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) will discuss several agenda items as “confidential business” at its council meeting this week (July 18), according to council papers published last week (July 12).
The papers listed six items to be discussed in its confidential session - including items previously discussed in open session, namely pharmacy education and training and international registration.
Other items to be discussed in the confidential session include a discussion on its “investment funds”, one on “racism in pharmacy” and a discussion of an independent culture review of UK regulator the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), they revealed.
FtP deaths
A spokesperson for the GPhC yesterday clarified its reasons for placing certain items under confidential business when questioned by C+D.
They said that the NMC discussion had been designated as a confidential item “due to the external context” of possibly negative mentions of the nurses’ regulator - an external organisation.
Last week (July 9), the NMC “apologised and promised action” after an independent review found “safeguarding concerns” and “racism, discrimination and bullying” within the regulator.
Read more: GPhC ‘looking at’ sexual misconduct process after C+D exposé
According to the NMC, the report noted that the regulator’s “ongoing challenges with the high fitness-to-practise (FtP) caseload” placed its employees “under immense pressure”.
The report found that six people “under, or having concluded, FtP investigation” by the NMC had “died by suicide or suspected suicide” since April 2023.
On July 10, a spokesperson for the GPhC told C+D that the regulator had “noted the report” and would look to “identify any wider learnings or insights”, as would be the case with “any independent reports relating to other regulators”.
Read more: FtP concerns reach ‘record high’ as GPhC performance remains in the red
The Professional Standards Authority (PSA), which regulates healthcare regulators, told C+D on the same day that it was “carefully considering the report and its recommendations” and that it expects “the other regulators to also be reflecting carefully on the findings of the review”.
The PSA said it would ask other regulators to inform it of “any actions they are taking in response to the review”.
But the spokesperson added that it did not require regulators to keep track of the number of deaths of people facing FtP processes, or deaths by suicide in particular.
Read more: Health secretary alerted as GPhC fails FtP standard for fifth consecutive year
And they told C+D that the PSA has “not seen evidence of similar issues around organisational culture at the GPhC”.
Nevertheless, they added that the PSA has had “concerns over how long the GPhC and a number of other regulators have taken to resolve FtP cases” for “some time”.
In September last year, the PSA wrote to then health secretary Steve Barclay to “raise [its] concerns” after the GPhC failed to meet a standard for the “timeliness” of FtP cases due to “serious and ongoing delays” for the fifth consecutive year.
Read more: Pharmacist suspended for WhatsApp remote supervision while ‘in lavatory’
And last month, the GPhC revealed that it had received a “new record high” number of possible FtP concerns in the fourth quarter of its 2023/24 financial year, as its FtP performance remained “red” despite some progress.
According to the minutes of the GPhC’s June meeting, its council had discussed “what could be done to reduce the number of complaints and concerns coming into the GPhC” and suggested “the development of a toolkit for employers to use when handling complaints”.
“Racism in pharmacy”
Meanwhile, the council will this week discuss information regarding “racism in pharmacy” provided “in confidence” by individuals who had a discussion with the chair Gisela Abbam, the GPhC spokesperson told C+D yesterday.
It comes after a report released in February criticised the lack of progress on the “gap” between the proportion of black and white pharmacy trainees who pass the summer registration assessment.
Read more: Little effort to close black/white trainee ‘attainment gap’, report warns
In October, the GPhC found that white pharmacists were under-represented in the FtP concerns it received in 2021/22.
And in December, the regulator changed its FtP hearings guidance to consider “cultural differences” more comprehensively.
It remains unclear what exactly will be under discussion in this week’s council meeting.
International registration
The agenda item on the “way forward following stakeholder engagement” on international registration is confidential because the paper that will be under discussion contains legal advice, the spokesperson told C+D.
They indicated that this would fall under the regulator’s governance policy that permits confidentiality if the item “contains information whose disclosure is legally prohibited or is covered by legal privilege”.
In February, the GPhC proposed a radical reform of the registration process for internationally trained pharmacists in papers prepared for its council meeting held that month.
Read more: GPhC proposes new three-tier system to register overseas pharmacists
It said it was looking to introduce a three-route system that promises to dramatically shorten the process needed for many overseas-trained pharmacists to register in the UK.
The GPhC told C+D at the time that it hoped to complete the proposals and hold a consultation this year, following approval by its council at the February meeting.
The spokesperson also told C+D this week that the “education and training landscape” had been placed as a confidential item because it “is part of a continuing discussion or investigation and the outcome could be jeopardised by public discussion”.
Read more: Trainees demand review into GPhC exam
They added that it was part of a continuing discussion on the future landscape based on the personal views of the GPhC’s chief strategy officer Mark Voce, who will retire at the end of this month.
However, the education and training and international registration items will be discussed and have decisions made about them in the public session of future council meetings as has been the case in the past, they said.
It comes as the regulator has said it will examine how it handles FtP sexual misconduct cases and initial allegations following a C+D investigation.
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