When Should a Pharmacist Do a GPhC Professionalism Course?

Written and reviewed by Dr Shehzad Iqbal, MBBS, MRCS, MRCGP, Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Law and Ethics · Updated 7 November 2026

When should a pharmacist do a GPhC professionalism course?

The timing depends on where you are. The earlier you start, the more you have to show:

• after a workplace complaint or an employer investigation, before anything reaches the GPhC;
• when the GPhC sends you the concern and asks for your response;
• after a referral to the Investigating Committee, before your written response;
• before a Fitness to Practise Committee hearing, or while you work under conditions or undertakings;
• as planned CPD, with no concern at all.

The GPhC’s FAQs say an investigation does not mean it has decided your fitness to practise is impaired, and that you can keep practising unless told otherwise.

What GPhC standard 6 asks: behave in a professional manner

Standard 6 of the Standards for pharmacy professionals says people receive safe and effective care when pharmacy professionals:

• are polite and considerate, and show empathy and compassion;
• are trustworthy and act with honesty and integrity;
• treat people with respect and safeguard their dignity;
• maintain appropriate personal and professional boundaries with the people they care for “and with others”, so a boundary with a patient or a colleague is covered in the same point.

Standard 9, demonstrate leadership, adds that you do not abuse your position and that you delegate only to people who are competent, with proper oversight. The standards apply “at all times, not only during working hours”, and the GPhC’s Demonstrating professionalism online says you have the same responsibilities online as face to face; a note that posts are your own views “means little in practice”.

What a Fitness to Practise Committee looks for

If a case reaches a hearing, the committee decides three things in turn: whether the facts are proved, on the balance of probabilities; whether your fitness to practise is impaired; and whether to take action. It can issue a warning, agree undertakings, impose conditions, suspend you or, in the gravest cases, remove you from the register.

The GPhC’s hearings and outcomes guidance (March 2024) asks whether the conduct can be addressed, has been addressed and is likely to be repeated (paragraph 2.15). It calls insight and remediation “key factors” (5.19) and says insight must be “genuinely demonstrated”, through your actions after the incident as well as at the hearing (5.20). A course finished months before the hearing, with a reflection that names standard 6, is that kind of action. What to prepare is in our guide to preparing for a fitness to practise hearing.

What the professionalism course for pharmacists covers

Six sections and 19 lessons, ending in an assessment:

• what professionalism means in pharmacy, and the GPhC’s role;
• eight core principles, from integrity and accountability to teamwork and reflective practice;
• the nine standards applied to daily pharmacy work;
• boundaries with patients and colleagues;
• breaches, the regulatory action that can follow, and remediation.

When a different course fits better

If the concern is about consent or a decision you made for a patient, Ethics and Ethical Standards for Pharmacists is closer to it. If it began with a post or a message, Professionalism and Boundaries in Use of Social Media deals with that setting.

Using the professionalism course for GPhC revalidation

Your reflective account needs a brief summary of your practice over the last year, a statement of how you met one or more of the standards, and at least one example, says the revalidation framework. Standard 6 suits a professionalism course. The course itself can be a planned CPD entry, and your peer discussion can be with anyone who understands your practice. More on the GPhC’s idea of professionalism is in our guide to a professionalism course.

Our professionalism course for pharmacists, for a concern and for CPD

Courses that sit beside it

Bulk Buy covers the £79 courses: 3 for £200, 5 for £300, 10 for £500. Not sure what to take? Book a free 15-minute call or see which course do I need.

Guides that help

This guide is part of our Professional Misconduct hub, which brings together every Probity & Ethics guide and course on the subject.

The CPD courses linked from this guide, Professionalism and Professional Standards for Pharmacists, Ethics and Ethical Standards for Pharmacists, Professionalism and Boundaries in Use of Social Media and Module on Reflection, are by Probity & Ethics, written by Dr Shehzad Iqbal, CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197) and offered since 2020.

Questions and answers