GPhC launches new strategic plan to ‘empower’ pharmacists

The pharmacy regulator has launched a new five-year strategic plan focused on ‘empowering’ pharmacists to provide trusted, safe and effective care.

Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on pharmacy, Steve Race MP, hosted a Parliamentary event to mark the launch, where pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock MP stressed that pharmacists are ‘key’ to the government’s plans to deliver more care in the community.

The new strategic plan sets out how the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) will uphold safety, quality and public trust in pharmacy and build on the progress that has already been made, by focusing on three strategic aims.

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This includes:

• Empowering pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to provide trusted, safe and effective pharmacy care;
• Protecting those using pharmacy services by working collaboratively with healthcare regulators and other organisations;
• Building a skilled, agile and inclusive organisation to carry out our regulatory responsibilities.

The GPhC’s strategy stressed that ‘pharmacy professions are evolving rapidly, and they are reshaping how care is delivered’.

‘These advancements present significant opportunities but also bring new challenges in maintaining safety, quality and public trust. The role of the GPhC is crucial in ensuring that regulation keeps pace with these changes, providing a robust framework that safeguards patient care and public confidence, whilst enabling innovation,’ the strategy added.

At the event, the chair and chief executive of the GPhC introduced the blueprint and led discussions on how the GPhC could work collaboratively with other organisations to empower pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to care for patients and the public as integrated members of the health and care professional workforce.

Speaking at the event, Gisela Abbam, chair of the GPhC, said the plan would help to ‘achieve a vision of safe and effective pharmacy care at the heart of healthier communities’.

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‘The way care is delivered, and the role of the pharmacy professions are both evolving rapidly, including pharmacies taking on expanded role in prescribing medicines, with all newly qualified pharmacists joining the register as independent prescribers for next year,’ she said.

Duncan Rudkin, chief executive of the GPhC, said: ‘At the heart of this strategy lies an unwavering commitment to the safety and wellbeing of the people of Great Britain.

‘By empowering the pharmacy professions to deliver trusted, effective and inclusive care, we aim to build a future where pharmacy services continue to inspire confidence, protect the public, and advance healthcare for all.’

He added that the GPhC would shortly publish its delivery plan, ‘which sets out in more detail the programmes of work we will deliver in order to achieve the strategic aims and outcomes set out in this plan’.

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APPG chair Mr Race welcomed the ‘focus in the GPhC’s new strategy on empowering pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, and prioritising patient and public safety, at a time of significant change across pharmacy, health and social care’.

‘As chair of the APPG for pharmacy, I look forward to working closely with the GPhC and with all organisations across health and social care, to support and enable pharmacy to play its part in improving care for everyone.’