Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of provisionally registering pre-registration pharmacists in response to the covid-19 outbreak.

The registration of pharmacy professionals is a matter for the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) in Great Britain. Temporary re-registration has been focused on those people who had previously demonstrated the required knowledge and skills to safely practise as a registered pharmacist or pharmacy technician, and who have recent experience of pharmacy practice.

Temporary registration has been given to 3,483 pharmacists and 3,020 pharmacy technicians who are now able to return to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The GPhC is exploring whether any further categories of people may need to be registered, with a view to ensuring pre-registration trainee pharmacists can progress safely on to the pharmacy register.