GPhC thanks provisionally registered pharmacists for support during pandemic; asks 63 eligible candidates to join main register

While thanking the provisionally registered pharmacists and their employers for supporting NHS services during the pandemic, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has asked the 63 eligible candidates to join the main register by January 31 to continue practicing.

A total number of 4,799 provisionally-registered pharmacists have been on the provisional register since it was introduced in July 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which had affected the registration assessment schedule.

As of Tuesday (January 18), 237 were still on the provisional register, of which 84 have begun the process to join the main register, 90 did not sat an assessment, while 63 eligible candidates are yet to start their application.

The register enabled trainees who had completed their training to support NHS services and provide patient care effectively as provisionally-registered pharmacists, while they waited to sit the registration assessment.

After providing three potential opportunities to trainees to sit the registration assessment – in March, July and November 2021, the provisional register will close on January 31, 2022.

To be able to work as a pharmacist after February 1, anyone on the provisional register must join the main register, the regulator said.

The GPhC has urged employers to encourage all provisionally registered trainees employed by them to apply for full registration.

GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin, said: “We are grateful to professional leadership and representative bodies, education and training organizations and employers, for everything they have done to support provisionally-registered pharmacists and help them provide safe and effective care to patients.”

He added: “The vast majority of provisionally-registered pharmacists have now successfully applied to join the pharmacist register. We have contacted the small number of people still on the provisional register on a regular basis to confirm that they will need to join the main register to continue working as a pharmacist and also shared that message with employers and other stakeholders. Those who have not yet sat the registration assessment will have the chance to do so in June.

“We are prioritizing applications for the pharmacist register and we will do our best to ensure any further applications are dealt with as quickly as possible and these pharmacists can continue their excellent work.”