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The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) plans to shelve proposals to set minimum requirements for superintendent pharmacists.

In papers published ahead of its October 15 council meeting, the regulator said that following a consultation that concluded earlier this year on its proposed new standards for responsible pharmacists (RPs) and superintendent pharmacists (SPs) it has undertaken “further targeted engagement with relevant stakeholders” to finalise its proposals.

While 57 per cent of consultation supported setting minimum requirements to be met before someone can take on the role of SP – such as a minimum of years’ post-registration experience, sector-specific experience and professional development requirements – “there is no consensus on what these requirements should be,” said the regulator.

It said there is a need for “careful consideration” around the proposals and not enough time to carry out this work before the December 10 deadline for publishing the standards – timed to coincide with the second stage of the Human Medicines (Authorisation by Pharmacists and Supervision by Pharmacy Technicians) Order 2025 coming into effect. 

The GPhC added: “Although we are not proposing to introduce additional post-registration requirements for pharmacists to become a superintendent pharmacist in the standards at this time, it is important to note that superintendent pharmacists have a professional obligation to ensure they have the necessary skills, competence and experience for the role and are required to demonstrate and maintain their competence through their annual revalidation which provides a robust ongoing framework for assuring competence.”

The regulator also dropped its initial proposal to require SPs to be replaced “immediately,” and has replaced it with a maximum of 28 days “as being a reasonable and proportionate timeframe”.

As with the minimum SP requirements, the regulator found there was “no clear consensus” on whether the two-hour absence rule for RPs should be replaced with a “more risk-based flexible approach” and not enough time to identify a clear way forward before December 10.

The GPhC said: “We also recognise the value in exploring with stakeholders across the pharmacy sector whether alternative approaches to the current two-hour absence rule could provide a proportionate and effective framework.

“This will be considered as part of future work after the publication of the new rules and standards for responsible pharmacists.”

The council will discuss whether to approve the redrafted standards at tomorrow’s meeting.