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The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) received its “highest ever recorded” number of concerns in quarter two of 2025/2026, with 2,159 concerns reported.
In council papers, released ahead of and due to be discussed at a meeting on 11 December 2025, the GPhC said the nature of the concerns “mirrors wider sector pressures, with customer service issues and dispensing errors most common”, adding that 17% of all concerns in relation to online settings.
Since the start of quarter four of 2024/2025, the papers said that the regulator received 949 concerns relating to weight management or the mention of weight management medication, which accounted for 15% of all concerns received.
The papers revealed that 882 (93%) of these concerns were closed at the initial assessment stage, while 41 cases had been referred to its investigation team, with 30 cases ongoing.
The council papers also noted a jump in weight management-related concerns in quarter two of 2025/2026, which were related to the increased cost of Mounjaro (semaglutide; Eli Lilly) from 1 September 2025.
In quarter two of 2023/2024, there were 1,373 concerns raised with the regulator.
The concerns also included reports of stock shortages, unfulfilled orders, refund requests and inappropriate advertising of alternatives.
The GPhC said there had been an increase in enforcement action, following “emerging concerns about the operation and governance of several pharmacy businesses”.
Noting the ongoing issues with Jhoots pharmacies, the papers revealed that, between January and August 2025, the regulator inspected 17 Jhoots pharmacies and took enforcement action across five separate premises.
The papers added that the GPhC carried out five more inspections between September and November 2025.
“We … attempted a further 60 inspections, but [was] not able to proceed with an inspection as the pharmacy was closed, or did not have a responsible pharmacist present,” the papers added.
From August 2025, there had been “a significant escalation” in the number of concerns being raised about some Jhoots pharmacies by patients, Jhoots employees and locums, other healthcare providers and members of the public, as well as some MPs, the papers said.
Following a meeting with pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock and representatives from NHS England and integrated care boards to discuss actions related to Jhoots, the GPhC said it was providing weekly updates to the Department of Health and Social Care on its ongoing work on the issues.
On 8 December 2025, Manjit Jhooty, one of several operators behind Jhoots Pharmacy, announced that he was rebranding his store portfolio to JHL Pharmacy.
The GPhC council papers also include an update on the regulator’s development of a policy on the disqualification of pharmacy owners.
Under the Medicines Act 1968, the GPhC’s fitness-to-practise committee has the power to disqualify pharmacy owners from being pharmacy owners in future and to remove premises attached to those owners from its register.
This may happen if, for example, the pharmacy owner fails to meet the GPhC’s pharmacy standards or if an offence has been committed.
In the papers, the regulator said: “We have yet to develop an overarching policy on the use of our disqualification powers.
“We the need to develop an open and transparent policy to support our teams investigating these cases and decision-makers determining these cases.”
The regulator explained that the legislation around disqualification “is complex and requires careful consideration”.
According to the papers, the GPhC plans to share a draft policy with its council in February 2026 and publish the final policy in the summer of 2026.
So far, the papers said that a ‘project initiation document’ has been developed, outlining deliverables of the policy, which include the circumstances when it will, and will not, pursue disqualification proceedings, as well as circumstances when interim suspension of the pharmacy premises may be appropriate and guidance for decision-makers.
