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Pharmacists from overseas who want to register with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) would be able to undertake a one-year programme rather than the current two, under proposals laid out by the regulator.
Currently, pharmacists who qualified outside the European Economic Area (EEA), or who hold an EEA pharmacist qualification not recognised in the UK, must complete the one-year ‘Overseas Pharmacists Assessment Programme‘ (OSPAP) and 52 weeks of foundation training before they can apply to register with the GPhC.
In a statement published on 6 August 2024, the regulator said that its proposed one-year programme will include both university study and in-practice training, and that “applicants would still all need to pass the registration assessment”.
The proposals would apply to pharmacists from non-EEA countries or non-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries.
The regulator added that pharmacists from EEA and EFTA countries will continue to have their qualifications automatically recognised until September 2028, “but from that point EEA-qualified pharmacists may also need to go through the single route for registration, depending on decisions made by the government”.
The new proposals follow three different potential routes to registration for overseas-qualified pharmacists that were previously mooted by the GPhC in council papers published in February 2024.
The GPhC said that it was contacting internationally registered pharmacists who are planning to apply for OSPAP courses to let them know that there will not be any changes to the OSPAP course until September 2026 at the earliest.
Duncan Rudkin, chief executive of the GPhC, assured that the regulator had listened to concerns about the February 2024 proposals.
“As an organisation we’re committed to delivering equality, improving diversity and being inclusive in all our work as a healthcare regulator and an employer,” he said.
“We want to make sure that all our proposals and policies protect the public and maintain standards in ways that are demonstrably inclusive and equitable.
“Our council has therefore decided to propose having one single route to registration for all (non-EEA/EFTA) internationally-qualified pharmacists.”
“We also want to focus our efforts at this point on taking forward the one-year programme, because a significant proportion of overseas applicants are applying from countries such as India, Pakistan and Nigeria, who would need to complete a one-year programme.
“We also intend that shortening the course from two years to one year, once implemented, will significantly reduce the burden for internationally-qualified pharmacists and help to increase the pharmacist workforce in the long-term.”
The GPhC said it was “developing the detail of the proposed approach for a single route to registration, as well as drafting updated standards for the education and training of internationally-qualified pharmacists, ahead of full public consultation”.
The regulator said it would create a working group — including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), the UK Black Pharmacists Association, and other representative bodies — to further develop proposals, and it expects to consult on the proposals in 2025.
The most recent data for applications to the OSPAP programme showed a 26% increase in applications in 2022/2023, with 757 pharmacists applying compared with 599 the previous year.
In October 2023, The Pharmaceutical Journal reported that all OSPAP courses starting in 2024 were already oversubscribed.
Applications to the programme have continued to increase in recent years, with a three-fold increase in the period between 4 March 2021 — when pharmacists were added to the Home Office’s shortage occupation list — and 17 October 2021, compared with the same period the previous year.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society said it would comment once firmer proposals had been published.
