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The General Pharmaceutical Council has announced it is developing a policy on using its powers to disqualify pharmacy owners and remove their premises from the register “with an ambition to publish in summer 2026”.

The policy will seek to establish firm guidelines for applying these rarely-used powers – and could see some premises “suspended” on an interim basis in addition to those where the owner disqualified outright, said the regulator, adding that it in some cases change of ownership applications could be an alternative to striking a pharmacy from the register. 

In July, the GPhC revealed it had halted disqualification proceedings against a small number of pharmacy owners who had already removed their business from the register.

This was done using an “interim approach,” with the regulator admitting it has no overarching policy for approaching cases like these. 

In meeting papers published earlier today (December 8), the regulator said: “We now want to develop a clear and transparent approach to managing disqualification cases to resolution. 

“This approach will align our activities across GPhC functions to protect the public, be clear about our role in disqualification, ensure we are fair and consistent and remain outcome-focused.”

The GPhC explained that the Medicines Act 1968 provides “three gateways” to disqualifying a pharmacy owners, namely: when the company itself is convicted of an offence; where board members and senior officers have been convicted or found guilty of misconduct that “would render the person unfit to be a pharmacist”; and where pharmacy owners fail to meet the GPhC’s standards for registered premises.  

Each of the ‘gateways’ requires the involvement of the fitness to practise committee to “address specific statutory factors and conditions” and make a finding of disqualification, said the GPhC. 

And each gateway can lead to either permanent or time-limited disqualification, it added. 

The regulator said its “comprehensive policy” will touch on areas such as the legal routes to disqualification, circumstances where it will or will not pursue proceedings and where an “interim suspension of premises” may be appropriate.

Other “deliverables” in the new policy will include alternatives to disqualification, such as proceedings against individual registrants, the “use of information in registration/renewal decisions” and “possibly also change of ownership applications”. 

“As this is a complex area of law, some limited funding has been ringfenced for some specialist legal advice if considered necessary,” the GPhC noted, commenting that the policy may also make “recommendations for legislative change”.

In October, the regulator revealed plans to explore whether “additional regulatory powers” are needed in order to “strengthen assurance of pharmacy ownership and accountability” as part of its 2025-2030 strategy.

These comments came in the wake of pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock telling the House of Commons in a debate on problems at Jhoots Pharmacy that the Labour Government is looking at ways to strengthen regulations to “deal more quickly with pharmacies that do not play by the rules”.

Writing to MPs in November to update them on the Government’s approach to Jhoots, pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock noted the GPhC’s powers to disqualify proprietors from owning a pharmacy but said using these powers is “new territory” for the regulator.