The GPhC suggests a £103 upsurge in annual pharmacy registration costs.

Between 2019 and 2020, The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) increased the pharmacy premises annual registration fee by twenty-one pounds, and now they are discussing whether an additional one-hundred and three pounds should be charged on top of this to cover the costs of regulating and reviewing each pharmacy site. If the GPhC considers to implement the additional fee, pharmacies will witness the upsurge from October 2020.

A National Pharmacy Association representative, stated, “We cannot possibly support such a steep increase in fees for pharmacy regulation. The GPhC says it needs to cover its costs, however pharmacy contractors are bound to ask if the regulator is working as hard as pharmacies themselves to deliver efficiencies.”

Chief Executive of the GPhC, Duncan Rudkin, stated: “Since twenty-thirteen, we have introduced significant changes in how we regulate and inspect pharmacies, improving the effectiveness of our regulatory approach and bringing benefits to patients, the public and pharmacies. We are proposing this change now because we need a robust and sustainable financial framework with fees that reflect the true cost of regulation.”