GPhC appoints six new council members for 2026/27
The General Pharmaceutical Council has appointed six new members to its governing council for the 2026/27 period. The council is the body that sets the direction of pharmacy regulation in Great Britain, so its composition matters beyond internal GPhC politics.
What happened
The GPhC confirmed the appointment of six new council members who will serve during the 2026/27 term. The council oversees the regulator's work to protect, promote and maintain the health, safety and wellbeing of patients and the public — language that sits at the heart of the GPhC's statutory remit under the Pharmacy Order 2010.
GPhC Council includes both registrant members (pharmacists and pharmacy technicians) and lay members. That balance is deliberate. Lay members bring perspectives from outside the profession and help ensure the regulator acts in the public interest, not solely in the interests of those it regulates.
Why it matters
For anyone sitting the Common Registration Assessment, the GPhC is not an abstract acronym. It is the organisation that sets the standards you must meet to register, maintains the register you'll appear on, and can remove you from it if your fitness to practise is called into question.
Understanding who governs the GPhC, and how, is part of understanding the regulatory framework you're entering. The council approves major policy positions, including changes to registration requirements and standards for pharmacy professionals. When the GPhC updated its Standards for Pharmacy Professionals, or consulted on the structure of the new registration assessment, those decisions came through council-level governance.
New council members can shift the organisation's priorities over time. That doesn't mean immediate changes to your exam or your registration pathway — council decisions move slowly and through consultation. But it's worth knowing the governance layer exists and what it does.
GPhC exam relevance
The assessment tests knowledge of the GPhC's regulatory role and the professional standards pharmacists are expected to meet. Questions can cover the purpose of professional regulation, the GPhC's statutory functions, and the difference between guidance and standards.
Know that the GPhC Council is the governing body responsible for setting the organisation's direction. Know that it includes both registrant and lay members. Know that the GPhC's overarching purpose is public protection — that phrase appears consistently across GPhC documentation and is worth having firmly in your head before exam day.
What's next
The new council will take up its role during 2026/27. Watch the GPhC website for any consultations or policy updates that emerge under the new council's tenure. The GPhC publishes council meeting minutes and papers publicly — a useful habit to get into if you want to follow regulatory developments beyond what appears in the trade press.
Source: Chemist+Druggist — https://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/news/regulation/gphc-appoints-new-governing-council-members-for-202627-FXPLZQNQDVDMHMNOKVPYCDWSZA/