Plans have been unveiled to change the law that judges accidental dispensing errors to be criminal offences, with the intention of increasing openness across the community pharmacy sector. At the moment, all dispensing errors are considered criminal acts, with no concessions made for whether the incident was inadvertent or deliberate, or the effect the episode had on the patient. The UK health departments – for the legislative changes will affect all four home countries – want to alter this current state of affairs, which means that pharmacies are reluctant to report errors and therefore learn from them.

Mistakes that are made maliciously or because of neglectful dispensing practice will remain criminal acts under the new laws, and individuals who are identified as responsible for problems that have contributed to the errors will still face the threat of prosecution. The consultation document, published earlier this month, also lays out proposals to publish Ofsted-style reports on pharmacies from inspections conducted by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and enable pharmacy standards to be reviewed and updated quicker and easier than is currently the case. In addition, the paper is a blueprint for allowing the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to set standards for registered pharmacy premises in the province and address failures to meet standards through sanctions set by the pharmacy regulators rather than by serving proprietors with enforcement notices, as now happens.

The plans form part of a workstream known as ‘rebalancing’, which aims to protect and improve existing services while removing and reducing barriers that stand in the way of further developments within pharmacy. Future efforts will focus on updating the framework relating to pharmacy owners and superintendent and responsible pharmacists, overhauling hospital pharmacy regulation, and revamping the rules around pharmacist supervision, with the aim of making better use of the pharmacy workforce and advances in technology. A number of events are being held to help people better understand what the changes mean for them and to inform responses to the consultation, which runs until May 14.

After this time, submissions to the consultation will be analysed so that any final changes can be made to the draft Orders, which will then need to be laid before Parliament and approved before they become legislation. More information on the consultation and the related events can be found at:

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/pharmacy-legislation-on-dispensing-errors-and-standards