Consultation outcome

Pharmacy legislation on dispensing errors and organisational governance

This consultation has concluded

Download the full outcome

Detail of outcome

The government conducted a consultation from 19 June 2018 to 11 September 2018 seeking views on proposals for 2 draft orders which would amend current pharmacy legislation on dispensing errors, and clarify how registered pharmacies are governed.

This is the formal government response to the consultation. The report summarises all of the responses and feedback received during the consultation period. The questions in the report retain their original numbering from the consultation document.

The response analyses 632 replies. The proposed Preparation and Dispensing Errors Order extends the defences to pharmacy professionals facing prosecution for a dispensing error in hospitals and undertaking other pharmacy services. The proposed Responsible Pharmacist and Superintendent Pharmacists Order seeks to strengthen and clarify the organisational governance requirements of registered pharmacies.


Original consultation

Summary

Seeks views on proposals for 2 draft orders which would amend current pharmacy legislation on dispensing errors and clarify how registered pharmacies are governed.

This consultation ran from
to

Consultation description

This is a UK-wide consultation, issued on behalf of the 4 UK health departments, with their support.

The 2 draft orders are:

  1. The Pharmacy (Preparation and Dispensing Errors – Hospitals and Other Pharmacy Services) Order 2018

  2. The Pharmacy (Responsible Pharmacists, Superintendent Pharmacists etc) Order 2018

The first draft order seeks to extend defences that already exist for pharmacy professionals working at or from registered pharmacies in the case of accidental preparation and dispensing errors. It would cover pharmacy professionals working in hospitals and other relevant pharmacy services.

The second draft order seeks to clarify and strengthen the arrangements of registered pharmacies concerning how they are governed. Specifically, it makes the roles of responsible pharmacists and superintendent pharmacists clear in primary legislation.

An equality analysis for each of the draft orders has been published alongside the consultation. These set out how the Department of Health and Social Care has thought about the potential impact of the proposed policies on protected groups. As part of the consultation we invite respondents to comment on our equality analysis.

Documents

Published 19 June 2018
Last updated 28 April 2022 + show all updates
  1. Added the government response to the 2018 consultation.

  2. Consultation closure date changed from 10 September to 11 September.

  3. First published.