Which GPhC Course After a Dispensing Error?

Written and reviewed by Dr Shehzad Iqbal, MBBS, MRCS, MRCGP, Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Law and Ethics · Updated 10 November 2026

Does the GPhC investigate a dispensing error?

It can. The GPhC’s fitness to practise FAQs list dispensing errors among the concerns it may investigate where there could be a risk to patient safety or to public confidence in pharmacy. Its threshold criteria guidance (updated October 2025) then sets the questions the Registrar asks. Paragraph 3.6 includes:

• whether your actions “were reckless or intentional”;
• whether the concern “reflects a recurring issue”;
• whether you “acted with openness and honesty”.

Paragraph 3.7 adds whether you have learnt from the incident, taken remedial action, and been given advice before about the same or similar matters. If the case closes with informal guidance, that guidance is designed to prevent a similar incident, is not shown on the online register, and may be used if a future concern arises.

Dispensing errors and the criminal law since 2018

The explanatory memorandum to the Pharmacy (Preparation and Dispensing Errors – Registered Pharmacies) Order 2018 explains that the Order created defences to the offences in sections 63 and 64 of the Medicines Act 1968 for preparation or dispensing errors by registered pharmacy professionals at a registered pharmacy. The conditions include acting in the course of your profession, a supply under a prescription, direction or emergency supply, and, once the error is known, promptly taking all reasonable steps to make sure the patient is told. A deliberate disregard for patient safety falls outside it.

The memorandum describes this as moving errors from the criminal courts towards professional regulation: where an error suggests your fitness to practise is impaired, it may be referred to the GPhC.

What GPhC standards 8 and 9 ask after an error

Standard 8, speak up when things go wrong, asks you to be open and honest, to “say sorry, provide an explanation and put things right”, and to think “about what can be done to prevent the same thing happening again”. Standard 9, demonstrate leadership, asks you to assess the risks in the care you provide and keep them as low as possible, and to delegate only to competent people with proper oversight. A reflection on both covers the patient, your checks and your team.

What a non-repetition plan for a dispensing error shows

A plan the GPhC can weigh is specific and dated. Our guide to a fitness to practise complaint covers the first weeks; the plan itself sets out:

1. what happened, and which check did not catch it;
2. what the patient was told, by whom and when;
3. what you changed: the checking step, the layout of stock, the handover or the workload;
4. the evidence: an updated standard operating procedure, an audit of your checks, a note from a supervisor;

What the course covers

Seven sections and 21 lessons, ending in an assessment: professional accountability; the difference between a mistake, repeated mistakes and misconduct; insight, reflection and the patterns in your own decisions; a five-lesson core on remediation and an action plan; and how to respond to a regulator’s inquiry and show the change.

When a different course fits better

If the error came from a gap in knowledge, Ensuring Clinical Competence and Patient Safety answers standard 4. If the concern is that the patient was not told, add Duty of Candour in Healthcare Practice.

Recording a dispensing error as GPhC CPD

The revalidation framework calls learning unplanned when “an event happens that causes an unscheduled learning activity”, so the error itself can be one of your four CPD entries. The course you then choose is a planned entry, and at least two of the four must be planned. Standard 8 gives you a reflective account. Other routes for a GPhC concern are in our guide to GPhC courses.

Our course after a dispensing error, 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, How to Ensure a Similar Mistake or Misconduct Will Not Be Repeated in Future, Ensuring Clinical Competence and Patient Safety as Healthcare Professionals, Duty of Candour in Healthcare Practice and Module on Remediation, 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