The Healthsite

All drugs dispensed in the U.K. are just as safe as American or Canadian drugs. All prescriptions are reviewed by licensed U.K. physicians and are dispensed by licensed U.K. pharmacists.

There are three major organizations that regulate pharmaceutical practice in the U.K. The following is a brief description of who they are and what their collective roles involve.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) is the regulatory and professional body for pharmacists in England, Scotland and Wales. The primary objective of the Society is to lead, regulate and develop the pharmacy profession.

The Society has responsibility for a wide range of functions that combine to assure competence and fitness to practice. These include controlled entry into the profession, education, registration, setting and enforcing professional standards, promoting good practice, providing support for improvement, dealing with poor performance, dealing with misconduct and removal from the register. The Society is also a Chartered body with objects concerning the advancement of science and the application of pharmaceutical knowledge.

In addition, the Society leads and supports the development of the profession in the public interest and promotes the profession's policies and views to a range of external stakeholders in a number of different forums.

In order to practice as a pharmacist in Great Britain you must be registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. To register with the Society you must have a degree in pharmacy from a United Kingdom school of pharmacy and pass an examination at the end of a year’s postgraduate practical training, or if you are a pharmacist from another country you can apply for membership by contacting the Overseas Registration section.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain has responsibility for a wide range of functions that combine to assure competence and fitness to practice. These include controlled entry into the profession, education, registration, setting and enforcing professional standards, promoting good practice, providing support for improvement, dealing with poor performance, dealing with misconduct and removal from the register.

In addition, the Society leads and supports the development of the profession in the public interest and promotes the profession's policies and views to a range of external stakeholders in a number of different forums.

By virtue of its integrated regulatory and professional roles, the Society performs functions of a public nature and is therefore accountable not only to its membership, but also to the public at large. Furthermore, the Society is also accountable to the Council for the Regulation of Healthcare Professionals (CRHP) for the exercise of its regulatory functions - meaning direct accountability to Parliament.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is the agency responsible for assuring the quality and safety of all medications dispensed in the U.K. The Executive Agency of the Department of Health is responsible for protecting and promoting public health and patient safety by ensuring that medicines, healthcare products and medical equipment meet appropriate standards of safety, quality, performance and effectiveness, and are used safely. The MHRA (Medicines)'s primary objective is to safeguard public health by ensuring that all medicines on the UK market meet appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy. Safety aspects cover potential or actual harmful effects; quality relates to development and manufacture; and efficacy is a measure of the beneficial effect of the medicine on patients.

This objective is achieved through:

• a system of licensing before the marketing of medicines
• monitoring of medicines and acting on safety concerns after they have been placed on the market checking standards of pharmaceutical manufacture and wholesaling
• enforcement of requirements
• responsibility for medicines control policy
• representing UK pharmaceutical regulatory interests internationally
• publishing quality standards for drug substances through the British Pharmacopoeia

The MHRA operates a system of licensing before the marketing of medicines. Medicines, which meet the standards of safety, quality and efficacy, are granted a marketing authorization (previously a product license), which is normally necessary before they can be prescribed or sold. This authorization covers all the main activities associated with the marketing of a medicinal product. The MHRA carries out pre-marketing assessment of the medicines safety, quality and efficacy, examining all the research and test results in detail, before a decision is made on whether the product should be granted a marketing authorization.

The National Pharmaceutical Association is the third group and this is the national body of Britain's community pharmacy owners. It was formed in 1921 to champion the interests of pharmacy owners and to promote, improve and protect an essential service to the public.
Often dubbed 'the voice of community pharmacy', the NPA of the 21st century is probably one of the strongest and most successful trade associations in the world - and the envy of other retail groups.

For any additional information on pharmacy practice in the U.K. and how it is regulated, please feel free to contact the three agencies mentioned above at their collective websites or contact us at our toll free number and we will assist in answering any questions you may have.