The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7491 p236
1 March 2008

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Pharmacists should not have to register with child protection scheme

Pharmacists and pharmacy staff should be excluded from legislation requiring registration of individuals working with children and vulnerable adults, pharmacy organisations have argued.

Pharmacists and registered pharmacy technicians are already regulated by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and primary care organisations and should not be required to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority, pharmacy organisations believe. Such registration would lead to unnecessary duplication of information and effort, they say, and avoiding such redundancy would allow greater resources to be directed at unregulated businesses.

Consultation on the implementation of the ISA scheme closed last week. The scheme seeks to prevent those known to pose a risk to children and vulnerable adults gaining access to these groups through their work. It will require individuals whose work brings them into contact with children and vulnerable adults to register with the ISA.

The Company Chemists’ Association, the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, the National Pharmacy Association, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee and the Society issued a joint response to the consultation.
(PDF 150K)

As well as criticising potential duplication, the response also points to the lack of consistency in requirements across Great Britain. It suggests that working under two different schemes could lead to different levels of protection being provided to the public.