Every registered pharmacy needs a responsible pharmacist in charge whenever it’s operating as a pharmacy. Most pharmacists know the day to day side well. Signing in, the notice on the wall, the two hour absence limit.
For owners the picture is a bit different. You might not be a pharmacist yourself, and even if you are, the legal duty to make the system work sits with the business. This guide covers what the rules require, what falls on the owner and what’s changing with the GPhC’s new rules.
What the responsible pharmacist does
The responsible pharmacist, or RP, is the pharmacist in charge of the safe and effective running of the pharmacy at any given time. The role was set up by the Health Act 2006, which amended the Medicines Act 1968, and the detail sits in the Medicines (Pharmacies) (Responsible Pharmacist) Regulations 2008. Those came into force on 1 October 2009.
Only one RP can be signed in at a pharmacy at any one time. A pharmacist can’t be the RP for two pharmacies at once.
The RP has to display a notice in the pharmacy showing their name, their GPhC registration number and the fact that they’re the pharmacist in charge. It needs to be somewhere the public can see it.
Without an RP, the pharmacy can’t carry out the activities that need one. That includes selling pharmacy medicines and supplying prescription medicines. General sale medicines can still be sold while the RP is absent.
The pharmacy record
The pharmacy has to keep a record of who the RP is at every point. The regulations set out what it must show.
- the RP’s name and GPhC registration number
- the date and time they became the RP
- the date and time they stopped being the RP
- for any absence, the date, the time they left and the time they came back
The RP has to sign in and out personally. Nobody else can do it for them.
The record can be kept on paper, electronically or both. It has to be available at the premises for the owner, the superintendent, the RP and pharmacy staff to look at. And this is where the owner comes in. The person carrying on the pharmacy business has to make sure the record is kept for at least five years. For an electronic record, that runs from the day the entry was made. For a paper record, it runs from the last date the record relates to.
If you’re buying a pharmacy, ask how the RP record is kept. Many pharmacies use their PMR (patient medication record) system or a separate app now. Make sure you know where the historical records live and that you’ll still have access after completion.
Absences
The RP can be absent from the pharmacy for up to two hours during the pharmacy’s business hours on any day. A day here means midnight to midnight. If more than one pharmacist acts as RP during that day, the two hours is the total for all of them, not two hours each.
Before leaving, the RP has to put arrangements in place. Where practical, they need to stay contactable throughout and be able to come back promptly if needed. Where that isn’t practical, another pharmacist has to be available and contactable to advise the team.
The RP also has to be satisfied that the pharmacy can keep running safely while they’re gone. In an NHS pharmacy, if the RP is absent during the hours the pharmacy is open for NHS services, a second pharmacist needs to be there.
Since 7 January 2026, a pharmacist can authorise a pharmacy technician to hand out checked and bagged prescriptions while the pharmacist is absent. Owners who want to use this should have clear procedures in place first.
The procedures owners must have
This is the part of the rules that lands squarely on the business. The regulations require written pharmacy procedures covering a set list of areas. Those include the safe handling of medicines, when non pharmacists can give advice, staff competence, record keeping, complaints and incidents.
Two of them relate directly to the RP role. There has to be a procedure for what happens when the RP is absent, and one for the steps to take when the RP changes. The RP is responsible for making sure the procedures are followed while they’re in charge, but the owner is responsible for having them in place and keeping them under regular review.
When ownership changes, these procedures should be checked and reissued under the new owner. Our post on the SOPs new owners need in place covers that in more detail.
How the RP fits with the superintendent and the owner
Owners sometimes blur these roles, so it’s worth being clear.
The owner is the person or company carrying on the pharmacy business. They’re responsible for the business as a whole, including making sure there’s an RP whenever one is needed, that the record is kept and that procedures exist.
A company that owns a pharmacy must also have a superintendent pharmacist. The superintendent has overall professional responsibility for the pharmacy business, across every branch if there are several.
The RP is in charge of one pharmacy for the period they’re signed in.
In a small independent, one person might be owner, superintendent and RP all at once. In a group, they’ll usually be different people. Either way, the GPhC’s standards for registered pharmacies hold the owner and superintendent to account for how the pharmacy is governed, including how RPs are supported.
What's changing
The Pharmacy (Responsible Pharmacists, Superintendent Pharmacists etc.) Order 2022 gave the GPhC powers to set its own rules for responsible pharmacists, replacing parts of the 2008 regulations over time. Further legislation on supervision was made in December 2025.
The GPhC consulted on draft rules for RPs and draft standards for RPs and superintendents between December 2025 and March 2026. In July 2026, it reported that the proposal to keep the two hour absence limit had strong support. The GPhC Council is due to look at the final standards and rules again in the autumn, ahead of the next phase of supervision changes on 10 December 2026.
Until the new RP rules come into effect, the current rules stay in place. So for now, the 2008 regulations are what you follow. It’s worth keeping an eye on GPhC updates, particularly if you run more than one branch or rely heavily on locums.
What to check when buying a pharmacy
When you’re looking at a pharmacy to buy, the RP arrangements give you a quick read on how well it’s run. Look at the RP records for gaps or missing sign outs. Check how often the pharmacy runs with locum RPs and whether absence procedures are realistic for the staffing. Read the latest GPhC inspection report for any comments on governance.
If the pharmacy depends on one owner pharmacist who’s leaving after the sale, think about who’ll be RP from day one. Our post on managing locums vs full time staff looks at the cost and continuity side of that decision.
Talk to Healthcare Plus
Healthcare Plus works with pharmacy buyers and sellers across the UK. We help with finding the right pharmacy, valuing it and handling change of ownership and FTP applications with NHS England and the GPhC.
Browse our pharmacies for sale or get in touch to talk through your plans.
