Increases in Pharmacy Premises Fees

Pharmacy bodies have opposed plans from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPHC) to pay for the regulation of controlled drugs with a hike in premises fees of £45 a year. The GPHC comments that the rise would generate around £45,000 to fund controlled drugs monitoring and inspections; making future regulations independent of the government.
The PDA insisted pharmacists should not have to pay for the cost of controlled drug monitoring. The NPA called on the GPHC to keep the fees at their current levels and to review controlled drugs regulations, including recommendations to keep running totals of controlled drug stock levels. This isn’t a legal requirement but is considered good practice and is expected to be a legal requirement when electronic controlled drug registers enter general use.