Monitoring Report - Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland 2022/23

We have published our most recent report for the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

Key statistics

• The PSNI regulates the practice of pharmacists and also registers pharmacy premises in Northern Ireland
• There were 3,141 pharmacy professionals on the register; 545 pharmacies (as at 31 December 2023)

Key findings

The PSNI did not meet Standard 4 because of the PSNI’s inability to provide timely and accurate information to us. These issues raise serious questions about the confidence we and the PSNI’s Council can have on the PSNI’s reporting and ability to address our concerns.

The PSNI did not meet Standard 10 because there have been a number of registration errors on the PSNI’s register during the review period. The PSNI did not have robust processes and controls in place throughout the review period to ensure the accuracy of the register and the PSNI has not yet taken action to reduce the risk of similar errors occurring in the future.

The PSNI did not meet Standard 15 because it is taking too long to deal with fitness to practise cases and the number of open older cases has increased. The PSNI was not able to provide us with sufficient explanation of the reasons behind the delays on cases closed by the Statutory Committee during the review period and the actions it took to minimise delays. It is our view that, in light of its small caseload, the PSNI should be able to manage delays to its cases more effectively.