Every pharmacy in Great Britain must be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), which inspects pharmacies to check they meet its standards. The reports from these inspections are published online, and for anyone looking to buy a pharmacy they offer an independent view of how the business is run.
Most buying guides list the inspection report as one item on a due diligence checklist. In our experience it deserves more attention than that, as a report can show how the pharmacy manages risk, how well the team is trained and how closely the current owner has kept on top of compliance. This guide explains where to find a report, what the outcomes mean and what buyers should look for.
Where Can You Find a GPhC Inspection Report?
Reports are published on the GPhC’s inspection website at inspections.pharmacyregulation.org. You can look up an individual pharmacy to see whether it has been inspected, or search the full database using your own criteria.
The GPhC publishes reports for inspections carried out from April 2019 onwards. If a pharmacy has not been inspected since then, there will be no report available, and it is worth raising this with the seller.
Each pharmacy’s page shows its full inspection history. We would recommend downloading every report listed, as earlier inspections can be just as informative as the most recent one.
What Types of Inspection Are There?
The type of inspection is stated near the top of each report. Routine inspections form part of the GPhC’s regular programme. Intelligence led inspections take place when the GPhC has received information, such as a concern or complaint, that it wants to follow up. Themed inspections look at a particular topic across a group of pharmacies.
An intelligence led inspection is not necessarily a cause for concern, and many end with all standards met. Buyers should still ask the seller what led to the visit.
Reports also state when only some of the standards were inspected. A report showing all standards met may therefore only cover part of the GPhC’s framework.
How Is the Report Laid Out?
Reports follow a standard format. They begin with the pharmacy’s details, including its address, premises number, type of pharmacy and the date of the inspection. This is followed by a section on the pharmacy’s context and the background to the inspection, which is often the most useful part for buyers.
The report then gives the overall outcome and states whether any action is required. Any standards that were not met, or that were met with areas for improvement, are listed next. The final section contains a table for each of the five principles, showing the outcome for each standard that was inspected.
What Do the Outcomes Mean?
Each report gives an overall outcome for the pharmacy, along with an outcome for each individual standard and a summary for each principle.
| Outcome | Meaning |
| Standards met | The overall outcome where the pharmacy met all the standards inspected. |
| Standards not all met | The overall outcome where one or more standards were not met. The pharmacy will need to address the issues identified. |
| Excellent practice | The pharmacy performs well above the standard. This finding is rare. |
| Good practice | The pharmacy performs above what the standard requires in that area. |
| Standard met | The pharmacy meets the standard. |
| Standard not met | The pharmacy does not meet the standard. |
The majority of pharmacies receive an overall outcome of standards met. Excellent practice findings are very uncommon, so buyers should not see their absence as a negative.
The Five Principles
The GPhC’s standards for registered pharmacies are grouped under five principles, and each has its own table in the report.
- Principle 1 covers governance, meaning how the pharmacy identifies and manages risk. This includes SOPs, incident reporting, complaints, record keeping, information governance and safeguarding.
- Principle 2 covers staff, including whether there are enough suitably trained people and whether they feel able to raise concerns.
- Principle 3 covers the premises and whether they are safe, clean, secure and suitable for the services provided.
- Principle 4 covers how services are delivered and how medicines are managed, from sourcing and storage through to supply and disposal.
- Principle 5 covers equipment and facilities, and whether they are suitable, maintained and used correctly.
Principles 1 and 4 tend to be the most important for buyers. Issues in these areas usually relate to how the pharmacy is managed and can take longer to put right.
What Should Buyers Look For?
The Context Section
The background section often describes the pharmacy in some detail. It may give an indication of how many items are dispensed, which services are offered, the opening hours, the staff on duty and any particular patient groups, such as care homes. Buyers should compare this with the information provided by the seller and ask about any differences.
Standards Not Met
Where a standard was not met, read the inspector’s findings carefully. A missing record or an SOP overdue for review is a very different matter from unsafe storage of controlled drugs or poor management of high risk medicines. Find out what action was taken afterwards. The pharmacy should have put an improvement plan in place, and the GPhC will usually follow up, so check whether a later inspection shows the standard as met.
Areas for Improvement
A report can list areas for improvement even when every standard has been met. These often point to issues a new owner would need to deal with after completion, such as gaps in near miss recording or SOPs that are due for review.
Patterns Across Inspections
Looking at the full history shows whether problems were dealt with. A single poor report followed by better ones suggests the owner resolved the issues, whereas the same finding appearing over several inspections suggests it has not been addressed. Repeated findings under principles 1 or 2 can indicate a management or staffing problem that is likely to remain after the sale.
Who Was Responsible
Consider whether the issues relate to people who are leaving the business or to staff who will transfer to you. Problems caused by an owner who was rarely on site may be resolved quickly under new ownership, but issues within the team are likely to continue.
The Inspection Date
A report from several years ago reflects how the pharmacy was run at that time. If the most recent inspection is some time ago, buyers will need to rely more heavily on their own due diligence.
How the Report Fits Into Due Diligence
An inspection report should be used alongside other checks rather than in place of them. It can help shape the questions you ask the seller and the documents you request. Alongside the report, buyers should ask for the current SOPs and their review dates, responsible pharmacist records, controlled drug registers, incident and near miss logs, and any correspondence with NHS England relating to contract monitoring.
Our guide to buying a pharmacy covers the wider process, and our buyer’s guide sets out the full due diligence checklist.
It is also worth remembering that a pharmacy’s inspection history remains public after a sale. Patients, commissioners and future buyers can all view it, so any poor findings will be visible under your ownership until a later inspection shows improvement.
Healthcare Plus can help you review a pharmacy’s inspection history alongside its accounts and contract position. Browse our pharmacies for sale or get in touch to discuss a purchase.
