There were 55,258 pharmacists on the GPhC register as at March 2018, and 23,367 registered pharmacy technicians, according to the regulator's 2017-18 report. There were 14,348 registered pharmacies.

Of the 4,066 pharmacies inspected by the GPhC in 2017-18, 402 pharmacies were judged ‘poor’, or were judged ‘satisfactory’ but did not meet all the standards: 98 per cent of these have made the necessary improvements (the remaining two per cent were made up of plans where actions were not yet due, or where they related to issues such as building works on premises that take longer to complete).

There were 2,333 fitness to practise concerns raised during the year, 444 (23.5 per cent) more than in 2016-17. The majority of cases were raised by members of the public (1,340) followed by other healthcare professionals (265) and GPhC inspectors (200).

As of 31 March 2018, 81 per cent of the GPhC’s open caseload was less than 12 months old, with 61 per cent being between zero and six months old. Last year this figure was 56 per cent.

Of the cases closed in 2017-18, no further action was taken in 940 cases, while 791 were considered to be outside the GPhC’s jurisdiction. Some 436 pharmacists received a letter of advice, 57 received a warning, 41 were suspended from the register, and 26 were struck off.