“The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is looking to ensure that the current revalidation process is effective and meets the needs of professionals and the public”, it announced this week (August 12).
“It is now five years since the revalidation framework was introduced,” it said.
“Since then, we have seen a rapid development of pharmacy and the development of new service models,” the regulator added.
Read more: UPDATED: GPhC extends revalidation deadline over ‘technical issues’
It said it has appointed consultancy firm Grant Thornton “to support [the GPhC] in reviewing the revalidation process and framework” and “identify any gaps and determine areas in need of development”.
Grant Thornton will also “contribute to the development of potential changes to the revalidation framework”.
It stressed that “there will be no changes introduced before June 2025 and any new proposals will be consulted on fully”.
“Additional requirements”
This week the regulator also launched a survey to “seek views from pharmacy technicians and pharmacists who have submitted revalidation since October 2022”.
Survey questions ask respondents whether its “straightforward to find an appropriate peer for the peer discussion” or “easy” to submit revalidation.
Read more: Revalidation chaos: GPhC 'working to resolve' website issues as deadline looms
More questions ask whether there should be “different revalidation requirements for people in different roles” or “additional requirements” for prescribing pharmacists.
“This survey is anonymous and confidential – no personally identifiable data will be required, and no comments will be attributable to individuals”, it stressed.
It added that the survey will be open until September 8.
Revalidation stress
The move comes after the GPhC last year extended the deadline for revalidation submissions following ongoing “technical issues” with its website.
Pharmacists welcomed the news at the time, saying it was the “right decision” and that it would “take away unnecessary stress for those who struggled with access to the site over the last couple of days”.
Read more: Pharmacy revalidation: what do you need to submit?
In March 2020, the GPhC postponed the revalidation submission date due to the COVID-19 pandemic and later told registrants to only submit a reflective account for their revalidation entry that year.
The approach was extended to those having to renew their registration in December, January or February 2022 but the full pharmacy revalidation requirements were reinstated from October 2022.
Meanwhile, the regulator suggested in May that pharmacists undertaking AI-assisted revalidation could face sanctions under a fitness-to-practise (FtP) procedure.
