GPhC recruiting legal advisors to ensure hearings 'conducted fairly'
The pharmacy regulator has revealed plans to hire multiple legal staff to attend, advise on and intervene in investigating and fitness-to-practise (FtP) committee hearings.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is “looking to recruit several legal advisors”, it announced this week (August 19).
The advisors will “ensure that proceedings before our statutory committees are conducted fairly,” it said.
The four-year-term positions will be “remunerated”, with “reasonable expenses” covered, the GPhC added.
The exact value of the salaries, and whether the positions are new roles, remains unclear.
“Irregularity in conduct”
The legal staff will advise the GPhC’s investigating and FtP committees on “points of law” and “draft high-quality determinations when necessary”, the job description added.
“If required”, the legal advisors should “intervene with advice where it appears that an error of law or irregular proceeding may be made”, it said.
It added that responsibilities include informing “the committee immediately of any irregularity in the conduct of proceedings before it”.
The GPhC said that it was “interested in people located anywhere in Great Britain” and that applications will close on September 9.
GPhC latest
In June, GPhC council papers revealed that the regulator’s FtP department received a record 5,477 concerns in 2023/24.
At the time, it flagged that the greater number of concerns and its improved productivity increase the risk that it could be “failing to act on serious concerns effectively”.
And last month, the regulator revealed that would examine how it handles FtP sexual misconduct cases and initial allegations following a C+D investigation.
Meanwhile, it said earlier this month that it was “seeking experienced providers” to fulfil a four-year-long, multi-million-pound registration examination contract.
The regulator also last week revealed that it had hired consultants and is conducting a survey to help it review “the revalidation process and framework”.
The move came after the GPhC last year extended the deadline for revalidation submissions following ongoing “technical issues” with its website.
