Managers and leaders must listen to and learn from concerns raised by pharmacists, the chief executive of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has said.

In a video message for Speak Up Month, organised by the National Guardian's Office, Duncan Rudkin said he had been 'quite rightly' told by unions that 'it's all very well to say professionals need to speak up, but that means managers and leaders need to listen and to act'.

'We know that the quality of care that people receive is improved and safer when professionals learn from feedback and organisations, and that involves speaking up, listening and then acting,' Mr Rudkin said.

'It is essential that those in leadership positions listen carefully to concerns when they're raised in the pharmacy context,' he added.

In particular, he urged pharmacy owners 'to empower their teams to provide feedback and to raise concerns'.

And he added that those listening to concerns raised must think about their own biases 'and what we bring to the act of listening'.

'It's about working together, reflecting and learning and acting to help keep all our patients and our teams safe,' Mr Rudkin concluded.

The message comes as the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has noted 'common' concerns from general practice pharmacists about 'pressure to prescribe' outside their scope of clinical practice.

The PDA also reported concerns from practice pharmacist members 'over supervision arrangements in GP practice settings', where 'what was outlined in service level agreements was not always routinely observed'.

A recent report into whistleblowing found that between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 the GPhC received 24 disclosures of information from whistleblowers.

Of these, five were under review, five were closed with no action taken, and one was referred to an alternative body.

A further 16 resulted in regulatory action being taken.

In the same time period, 14 disclosures relating to prescribing and medicines management were made to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), The Pharmacist has learned.

The NMC confirmed that these types of disclosures could relate to issues including:

  • Administered incorrect dosage
  • Administered incorrect drug
  • Breach of controlled drugs procedures
  • Inappropriate or incorrect delivery of medication
  • Inappropriate storage, transportation, preparation, disposal
  • Not administering or refusing to administer medication
  • Not completing checks before administering medication
  • Not notifying or escalating a drug administration error
  • Other drugs administration or medicines management errors

And it clarified that the disclosures may have been made by any worker in a health and care workplace, and may not be related to members of the NMC register.