A GPhC concern is not a finding. What you say at the investigation stage shapes everything after it.
Specialist defence for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and registered pharmacies. A properly evidenced early response can end a concern before it ever reaches a committee.
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GPhC fitness to practise — the key facts
The General Pharmaceutical Council regulates pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and registered pharmacies across Great Britain. It can issue warnings, impose conditions on your registration, suspend you, or remove your name from the register altogether. Its statutory purpose is protecting the public.
- Your indemnity may cover your own solicitorMany PDA, NPA and RPS-linked indemnity arrangements allow you to instruct a solicitor of your own choosing rather than accepting the representative allocated to you. We will review your cover at no obligation.
- Interim orders can restrict you immediatelyThe GPhC can seek an interim order suspending your registration or imposing conditions while the investigation is still running — before any findings are made.
- The standard of proof is the civil oneAllegations are decided on the balance of probabilities, not the criminal standard. A lower threshold than most registrants expect.
- Dispensing errors are treated as remediableSingle clinical errors, properly reflected on and remediated, are viewed very differently from patterns of conduct or dishonesty. How you frame this matters enormously.
- Insight and remediation change outcomesDemonstrated insight, reflection and concrete remediation are the factors most likely to keep a matter away from a hearing, or to reduce sanction if it reaches one.
The investigation stage is your best opportunity — and the one most often wasted
When a concern is raised, GPhC investigators gather evidence and you are invited to comment before any decision about referral is taken.
Registrants routinely write that response themselves, at speed, under real distress, without knowing what the decision-makers are actually weighing. A response drafted around the statutory test, evidenced properly, and demonstrating genuine insight is what stops concerns becoming committee hearings.
Tell us what you have received. Nothing you say goes any further.
Many policies let you choose your own solicitor at their cost. We check this for you at no obligation.
Evidence-led, addressing each concern directly, with reflective and remedial material properly presented.
Interim order hearings at short notice, and full representation before the Fitness to Practise Committee.
How a GPhC concern progresses
Concerns reach the GPhC from employers, patients, the police, superintendent pharmacists, other regulators and inspection findings. Investigators gather evidence and you will normally be invited to respond before any decision on referral.
Depending on the seriousness, a matter may be closed, dealt with by advice or a warning, resolved by undertakings, or referred to the Fitness to Practise Committee. The earlier your account and your remediation are on the file, the more of those routes remain open.
Interim orders
Where the GPhC considers it necessary for public protection, it can seek an interim order suspending your registration or imposing conditions while the investigation continues. These hearings can be listed at short notice and the effect on your ability to work is immediate.
If an interim order hearing has been listed, tell us when you call. We attend at short notice and make submissions aimed at avoiding or narrowing any order.
What the Fitness to Practise Committee weighs
The committee asks whether the facts are proved, whether they amount to impaired fitness to practise, and what sanction is appropriate. The civil standard applies throughout.
What moves the outcome is the seriousness of the conduct, whether it is remediable, whether it has in fact been remedied, the depth of insight shown, your regulatory history and the risk of repetition. Outcomes run from no action through warning, conditions and suspension to removal from the register.
The concerns we act on
We represent registrants facing dispensing and clinical errors, controlled drugs and record-keeping allegations, responsible pharmacist and supervision failures, allegations of dishonesty including in relation to claims or records, online and distance-selling pharmacy concerns, criminal convictions and cautions, health and dependency matters, conduct towards patients or colleagues, and inspection failings.
A single dispensing error and a pattern of dishonesty are treated very differently. Where your case sits on that spectrum is often argued, not obvious.
Lostock Legal SolicitorsWhat we do on your case
- Review your indemnity cover and advise whether your costs can be met — at no obligation
- Draft a full, evidence-based response to the GPhC investigation
- Help you build genuine reflective and remedial material, not boilerplate
- Attend interim order hearings at short notice
- Challenge the evidence relied on and obtain independent expert opinion where needed
- Represent you at the Fitness to Practise Committee and cross-examine witnesses
- Present mitigation on insight, remediation, good character and the context of your practice
- Advise on appeal where a sanction is disproportionate
We respond within 1 hour during business hours. All enquiries strictly confidential.
The practical reasons this goes better with us
Beyond the specialism, two things change the economics of defending a case like this.
Our own in-house advocates
We represent you at every stage ourselves, including in the Crown Court, rather than briefing out to counsel. That keeps your costs down and means the person who knows your case is the person who argues it.
Privately funded, by design
We are not a legal aid practice carrying a heavy caseload to stay afloat. Your matter gets the time a specialist defence actually needs.
Specialist, not general practice
Criminal defence and regulatory work is what we do. Not one department among a dozen.
Where GPhC concerns come from
Concerns reach the GPhC by several routes, and the right approach depends on which applies to you.
Dispensing errors
Single incidents or alleged patterns, often referred by an employer following an internal review.
Controlled drugs
Record-keeping, storage and supply allegations, which are treated with particular seriousness.
Dishonesty allegations
Including records, claims and registration matters — among the hardest categories to remediate.
Supervision failures
Responsible pharmacist duties and the supervision of pharmacy technicians and staff.
Convictions and cautions
Criminal matters must be declared and carry separate regulatory consequences.
Health and dependency
Where impairment is said to arise from a health condition rather than conduct.
The solicitor who will prepare your response
Alexander
Director · Solicitor · Higher Court Advocate
- Director of the firm
- Qualified Solicitor
- Higher Court Advocate
- Crown Court jury trial advocate
Alexander is a Director of the firm, a qualified Solicitor and Higher Court Advocate. For many years he was an advocate in the Crown Court, acting for clients in jury trials, and he has acted in some of the most serious cases there are.
Regulatory proceedings turn on evidence, procedure and the quality of the written case put to a decision-maker. That is the discipline Alexander has spent his career in, and it transfers directly to fitness to practise work.
He also understands the value of being approachable. He takes the time to explain each stage, so that the process itself stops being one more thing to worry about.
Talk to us today. No obligation.
Whether you have just received a letter, been asked to comment, or have an interim order hearing listed — the earlier we are involved, the more can be done.
- Strictly confidential — nothing leaves our office without your authority
- No obligation to instruct us
- You speak to a specialist solicitor, not a call handler
- We respond within 1 hour during business hours
Phone 0161 383 8855
Email admin@lostocklegal.com
Address Office 6, First Floor, St Thomas House, 18 St Thomas Road, Chorley PR7 1HR
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Rated 5.0 from 42 reviews
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Incredibly professional and very helpful in answering all my questions.
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He went out of his way to ensure I was well informed and updated throughout, clearly explaining every step.
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Super supportive throughout the whole process. I can't thank these guys enough.
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GPhC investigations FAQ
Can I choose my own solicitor?
Often, yes. Many indemnity arrangements available to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians allow you to instruct a solicitor of your own choosing, with the cost of representation met by the provider. We will review your cover and advise you at no obligation.
Can a concern be closed without a hearing?
Yes, and this is the most important point. A thorough, evidence-based response at the investigation stage — addressing each concern directly and showing genuine insight and remediation — can result in the matter being closed or dealt with by advice, with no referral to the Fitness to Practise Committee at all.
I made a dispensing error. Will I be struck off?
A single clinical error, honestly acknowledged and properly remediated, is treated very differently from a pattern of conduct or from dishonesty. Removal from the register is at the most serious end of the range and is not the usual outcome for an isolated error. How the error is presented, and what remediation you can evidence, makes a substantial difference.
What is the standard of proof?
The civil standard — the balance of probabilities. An allegation is proved if the committee considers it more likely than not. This is a lower threshold than the criminal standard many registrants assume applies.
Will the outcome be published?
Fitness to Practise Committee hearings are generally held in public and determinations are published, though health matters are usually heard in private. Concerns resolved at the investigation stage do not reach that point, which is a further reason the early response matters.
How quickly will you respond?
Within 1 hour during business hours. If an interim order hearing has been listed, say so when you call — those are treated as a priority.
Should I just use legal aid instead?
Legal aid is not available for regulatory fitness to practise proceedings. Your realistic options are your indemnity cover, if it extends to representation of your choosing, or instructing privately. We will tell you honestly which applies to you.
Is everything I tell you confidential?
Yes. Every enquiry is handled in strict confidence and nothing leaves our office without your authority, whether or not you go on to instruct us.
The response you send now is the one the committee will read
Speak to a specialist before you send it. Confidential, no obligation, and we will review your indemnity cover at the same time.
We respond within 1 hour during business hours. All enquiries strictly confidential.