GPhC Standards

Whistleblowing is included in the GPhC Standards for pharmacy professionals.

The standards specify that pharmacy professionals must speak up when they have concerns or when things go wrong.

Concerns could include issues regarding a person’s behaviour, actions or competency, or a feature of the working environment that may adversely affect patient safety. Concerns can involve pharmacists, technicians, pharmacy owners, other healthcare professionals or people responsible for the care of others such as care home staff, carers or key workers.

Examples of issues that may be raised in a community pharmacy include:

• Inadequate staffing levels within the pharmacy preventing the provision of a safe service.
• An unsafe workload.
• Pressure being applied to sign off healthcare staff as competent when they are not ready.
• Unrealistic targets for services such as MURs which result in these services being provided to patients who do not need them.
• Inappropriate storage of medicines, such as refrigerated medicines or controlled drugs.
• Any other act that could adversely impact on patient safety.

The focus on whistleblowing has been highlighted by the GPhC’s suggestion that fitness to practice procedures may be implemented where pharmacists or technicians fail to report their concerns.

The GPhC standards for registered pharmacies – the second principle of the premises standards is subtitled:

“Staff are empowered and competent to safeguard the health, safety and wellbeing of patients and the public.”

Whistleblowing is one of the criteria included and consequently inspected under this standard. To be rated as ‘good’ pharmacies need to demonstrate a “culture within the pharmacy that means staff are confident to raise concerns.” Simply having a whistleblowing policy in place is necessary to be assessed as ‘satisfactory.’

Having a whistleblowing policy in place is a good start, but it is a positive culture within the pharmacy that will make staff comfortable to raise and discuss their concerns without fear of retribution or reprisal and overcome the sense that speaking up can be a risk to the individual.

The culture in pharmacy should be one where the views and opinions of the staff are actively and regularly sought.