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A pharmacist who was suspended by the General Pharmaceutical Council after providing fit-to-fly Covid certificates to patients stating they had tested negative for the disease despite knowing their tests had not been analysed has been allowed to practice again under strict conditions.

A fitness-to-practise (FtP) committee this month said Sunil Kumar Lakhani must get the regulator to approve a registered pharmacist as his workplace supervisor who will monitor his performance for six months.

Lakhani was suspended for 12 months in November 2024 after a FtP committee principle hearing found he failed to keep a record of Covid tests completed at Sai Pharmacy in North London, where he was the superintendent pharmacist, sometime between February 11, 2022, and February 22, 2022.

The committee found he knew that Covid tests conducted at the pharmacy would not be analysed by the testing firm Circular 1 Health, which collapsed into administration in March 2023, and knew the fit-to-fly certificates he provided were not legitimate.

It also found he failed to keep records of courier services used for Covid tests, accepted only cash payments for Covid tests and recorded the cash received as no sale.

On February 22, 2022, Lakhani placed a used swab taken for a Covid test back into its packaging. In relation to Covid PCR tests, he was found to have used a swab kit from Fit2Fly 24/7 Limited at the pharmacy and informed a GPhC inspector that it used 24/7’s services to process tests.

He emailed a GPhC inspector on February 24, 2022, to say he did not realise he needed United Kingdom Accreditation Service accreditation for taking swabs and had applied for that accreditation.

The committee concluded Lakhani’s conduct was dishonest because he knew he had not applied for the relevant accreditation and failed to ensure testing services provided by the pharmacy were accredited between February 2021 and February 2022.

His suspension was extended by four months after a review hearing on December 4, 2025. Lakhani’s current suspension is due to expire on May 4, 2026.

Having heard about the steps he had taken to prevent a repetition of his conduct – reflective practice using the Gibbs Reflective Cycle, talking therapies and two Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education courses – the latest committee hearing said he must work with his workplace supervisor to draw up a personal development plan.

That plan must be sent to the GPhC within three weeks of him starting any employment as a pharmacist.

Lakhani, who must not work as a superintendent pharmacist, was also told to arrange for his supervisor to send a report on his progress to the GPhC every month and notify it about any position before he takes it up, including hours and locum work.

He must tell all employers or contractors, agents acting on behalf of employers and locum agencies and anyone he works with about the restrictions imposed on his pharmacy practise and inform the GPhC if he applies for work as a pharmacist outside the UK.