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Just under half (44%) of new online pharmacies were not inspected within the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC’s) aim of within six months of registration, data shared exclusively with The Pharmaceutical Journal have revealed.
According to GPhC figures obtained by The Pharmaceutical Journal, 38 (56%) of the 68 new online pharmacies registered between January and July 2025 were inspected within their first six months of registration.
An additional 15 new online pharmacies were inspected within 7 months, while a further 5 were inspected between 8 and 11 months, the data showed.
The data also revealed that six pharmacies — 9% of those within six months or more of registration — have an inspection scheduled, whereas four (6%) are yet to have an inspection scheduled.
In December 2024, the GPhC said that it would prioritise inspections of new online pharmacies within 6 months of registration and bricks and mortar within 12 months. The change came into effect on 20 January 2025.
The GPhC’s announcement followed a disproportionate number of online pharmacies not meeting the regulator’s standards, with distance-selling pharmacies twice as likely to fail an inspection than their bricks and mortar counterparts.
The GPhC said inspections were sometimes delayed longer than six months, owing to scheduling problems or if the registration was a relocation and, therefore, had been inspected at another premises previously.
Around half of the pharmacies that were inspected later than six months after registration had low levels of registrable activity, the GPhC said, adding that the inspections were then adjusted to accommodate for this and re-scheduled to be able to inspect more, or in some cases even some, activity.
Roz Gittins, chief pharmacy officer at the GPhC, said: “Where an online pharmacy has not been inspected within six months, it is often due to a delay in the pharmacy becoming fully operational and, therefore, there is no registerable activity to inspect.
“If a registration is simply a relocation with the same owner, staff and procedures, we can also choose to defer an inspection to prioritise other urgent work, such as intelligence-led inspections, where there is greater risk to patients and the public.
“We have recently seen a dramatic improvement in the performance of online pharmacies with 81% of them meeting all standards at inspection in this quarter,” she added.
After an analysis of GPhC online pharmacies register data, The Pharmaceutical Journal also found around 40 pharmacies that had an initial registration date of between 20 January 2025 and 21 July 2026 that were not listed as having an inspection report published, which suggests a delay in publication of the inspection reports after an inspection had been completed.
The GPhC confirmed that before an inspection report is published, it goes through a quality assurance process, including giving the pharmacy owner or superintendent pharmacist an opportunity to review the report and check its factual accuracy.
Reports are usually published on the GPhC’s inspections website within six weeks of the inspection taking place, the regulator said.
Commenting on the findings, Henrietta Hughes, patient safety commissioner for England, said: “Patients need to know that they are receiving high-quality advice and services from pharmacies, especially when they are receiving medication from an online pharmacy.
“The GPhC is a trusted source of information for patients and the public — it is really important that people check that the online pharmacy they are using is registered with the GPhC and has been inspected by them for the standards of care being provided.”
A spokesperson for the Professional Standards Authority, which regulates healthcare regulators including the GPhC, said it was currently assessing the GPhC’s performance as part of its 2025/2026 performance review and is due to publish its next report on the GPhC in September 2026.
“Where we see evidence of issues which impact public protection, we will take this up with the GPhC as a priority,” they told The Pharmaceutical Journal.
Claire Anderson, president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), commented: “Online pharmacy services are expanding and [the] RPS has supported moves to strengthen the regulation of online pharmacy to help protect patients. Inspection, alongside the publication of inspection reports, is an important part of providing assurance to the public and maintaining confidence in these services.
“We recognise there can be practical and risk-based reasons why the timing of an inspection or the publication of a report may vary — for example, if a pharmacy is not yet fully operational or where a risk-based approach means inspection timing may differ.
“From a patient perspective, clear and accessible information about regulatory oversight is vital so they can understand the standards of a service and make informed choices.
“All pharmacies, whether online or in person, must meet the same standards for safe and effective care. As more services are provided at a distance, transparency, visible oversight and clear communication with the public become increasingly important,” she added.
- This article was amended on 5 February 2026 to clarify that 44% of new online pharmacies were not inspected within the General Pharmaceutical Council’s aim of within six months of registration, and that the change to inspections was implemented in January 2025
