GPhC Lawyers
If your conduct or fitness to practise as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician has been called into question by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), a follow-up investigation into your professionalism could have serious implications without the right legal support. JMW provides comprehensive legal advice throughout the process, from initial investigations to interim orders hearings, the substantive proceedings and any appeals.
The approach you take to proceedings can help to reduce the risk of suspension, imposition of conditions, or removal from the pharmaceutical register. Our experts have represented a broad range of healthcare professionals in investigation proceedings, and have extensive knowledge of the regulations set by the GPhC. Our experience in representing pharmacists means we can offer specialist advice and deliver the best possible outcome from an investigation by a regulatory body.
If you have been notified of a complaint made against you, contact JMW today by calling 0345 872 6666, or fill in our online enquiry form to request a call back at your convenience.
How JMW Can Help
Our team can provide legal representation throughout the entire investigation process, from initial referral to hearings and representation at trials. We can assist you with the following:
- Advice during GPhC conduct and fitness to practise investigations
- Preparation and representation at committee hearings
- Making an appeal of decisions made by the GPhC
- Support during any associated criminal investigation
- Representation at all GPhC hearings, criminal trials or the Coroner’s Court
Cases will be handled with the utmost sensitivity and confidentiality and we will work to prepare the best possible defence to keep your interests protected.
On This Page
- What Our Clients Say
- How JMW Can Help
- Meet Our Professional Discipline Solicitors
- What Happens During a General Pharmaceutical Council Investigation?
- What Happens When a Case Is Referred to the GPhC Investigating Committee?
- What Happens in GPhC Fitness to Practise Proceedings?
- FAQs About Fitness to Practise Investigations
How JMW Can Help
At JMW, our professional discipline lawyers provide legal representation throughout the entire investigation process, from an initial referral to hearings and representation at trials. Our vast experience defending pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, and working to protect their professional status in a range of proceedings, means we understand the impact that high-quality legal guidance can have on your chances of success.
We can assist you with the following:
- Advice during GPhC conduct and fitness to practise investigations
- Preparation and representation at committee hearings
- Pursuing appeals of decisions made by the GPhC
- Support during any associated criminal investigation, if the investigation arises from related criminal proceedings
- Representation at all GPhC hearings, criminal trials or the Coroner’s Court
Cases will be handled with the utmost sensitivity and confidentiality, and we will work to prepare the best possible defence to protect your career and keep you on the GPhC register. A GPhC fitness to practise committee has wide-ranging powers to impose professional sanctions, and you should not approach this process without expert legal support.
Meet Our Professional Discipline Solicitors
JMW's professional regulation and discipline team has extensive experience at all stages of the fitness to practise process. We can make representations with a view to securing an early discontinuance of an investigation and where tribunal proceedings arise, we can prepare and represent in the most complex cases.
Meet Our Professional Discipline Solicitors
JMW's professional regulation and discipline team has extensive experience at all stages of the fitness to practise process. We can make representations with a view to securing an early discontinuance of an investigation and where tribunal proceedings arise, we can prepare and represent in the most complex cases.
What Happens During a General Pharmaceutical Council Investigation?
The process by which the GPhC investigating committee conducts an investigation depends on the circumstances of the case. An investigation usually begins in response to a complaint, but it can also arise from findings during a criminal investigation.
Typically, the regulator will begin by interviewing the complainant and any witnesses, and then by interviewing the pharmacist involved with the benefit of the evidence it has gathered. GPhC inspectors will sometimes visit the registered pharmacy involved in the investigation to assess practice standards.
Depending on the nature of the concern, GPhC might need to obtain witness statements from patients, members of the public, members of the pharmacy team, employers, other health care practitioners, the police and any other regulators. Your solicitor will be given copies of any evidence if proceedings move forward, and we can also gather evidence on your behalf to serve as part of your defence.
What Happens When a Case Is Referred to the GPhC Investigating Committee?
Once an investigation is finished, all the evidence will be reviewed and assessed against the GPhC’s threshold criteria, which are used to decide where the case will be referred. This may be the investigating committee or the fitness to practise committee.
The investigating committee will hold a meeting to review the complaint. Those involved in the case so far (i.e. the complainant, the pharmacist and GPhC investigation staff) do not attend these meetings. However, the pharmacist concerned will be invited to provide written responses to the allegations.
Actions the investigating committee can take include:
- Taking no action
- Providing advice to the pharmacist
- Issuing warnings
- Agreeing undertakings with the pharmacist if they admit to not being fit to practise
- Referring the case to the fitness to practise committee
- Adjourning the meeting to gather more information
- Asking for further investigation
- Requiring a pharmacist to have a medical examination
JMW offers investigating committee representation and can help you to produce a written response that will put forward your version of events in the strongest possible terms.
What Happens in GPhC Fitness to Practise Proceedings?
The process will be slightly different if the case is referred to the fitness to practise committee. This committee will usually hold a hearing between a chair, a registrant and a lay member. Other people who may attend include a legal advisor, a medical advisor, GPhC staff, any witnesses, the registrant and any representatives they have. Evidence will be presented and the committee will make a decision on the pharmacist’s fitness to practise.
Actions the fitness to practise committee can take include:
- Taking no action
- Agreeing undertakings with the pharmacist that they must or must not do in the future
- Issuing a warning
- Imposing conditions on the pharmacist’s practice
- Suspending the pharmacist
- Remove the pharmacist from the register
When a decision is made by the fitness to practise committee, appeals can sometimes be made. However, it is always best to secure legal representation before the investigation begins. JMW can work towards the best possible outcome before the case is referred to either the investigating committee or the fitness to practise committee.
FAQs About Fitness to Practise Investigations
- How long will a GPhC investigation take?
The GPhC states that it will try to complete investigations within three to nine months from the time the complaint is received. Updates will be provided every two months, although you are able to contact the representative managing your complaint at any time for an update. Based on our experience in this area, the team at JMW can also keep you updated on how things are progressing and what to expect from the process.
- Can I continue to work while under investigation by the GPhC?
In most cases, you will be able to continue working during an investigation. In some cases, an interim order may be imposed, which allows the GPhC to suspend your licence or impose conditions while an investigation is carried out. This option is typically considered where there is a concern about a pharmacist’s behaviour or the safety of patients, or where a pharmacist's health condition poses a risk to themselves or the public.
We can advise and represent you in opposing or helping to agree the imposition of suitable conditions, where relevant, to give you the best chance of continuing to work while the process is underway.
- Do I need a solicitor for a GPhC investigation?
Given that your professional registration may be at stake, it is vital to instruct a solicitor at the earliest opportunity when a GPhC investigation begins. If your case is referred to a fitness to practice committee, decisions can result in you being removed from the GPhC register and may have other serious consequences. The team at JMW can help you to defend your actions and will give you the strongest chance of a successful outcome, but early intervention is key to achieving the best possible result in these proceedings.
- When should a pharmacist contact a GPhC defence solicitor?
If you are informed that a complaint has been made or that an investigation is underway, speak to a solicitor at your earliest opportunity. A key part of JMW's strategy in defending pharmacists and pharmacy technicians facing fitness to practice proceedings is to challenge the evidence brought by the regulator, and any procedural errors in how evidence was collected. The earlier you involve our team, the better the resolution we can secure on your behalf.
Talk to Us
If you are being investigated by the GPhC, our expert professional defence solicitors are on hand to help you defend your fitness to practise. Contact JMW today by calling 0345 872 6666, or fill in our online enquiry form to request a call back at your convenience