• news-banner

    Expert Insights

Winds of change as GPhC releases draft FtP Strategy

The GPhC has recently published its draft strategy for Fitness to Practise (FtP) investigations, outlining its intentions to make more enquiries at an earlier stage of an investigation.

This follows a February report by the GPhC’s own regulator, the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), which found that the GPhC had failed to meet its own standards for the FtP process.  Amongst other significant criticisms, the PSA highlighted avoidable or unexplained delays in a high number of cases and noted an increase in the time taken to triage complaints.

The GPhC hopes that making more enquiries in the early stages of FtP investigations will help to “ensure the right concerns are investigated and those that can be resolved through alternative means are dealt with quicker”.  However, challenges will remain for the GPhC, who received a record number of FtP concerns in the period October – December 2019, and which has also identified that BAME professionals are disproportionately represented in the concerns that they receive and progress.

Whilst the draft strategy will, once agreed, be subject to a 12 week consultation, the proposed changes highlight the importance of taking legal advice in the initial stages of an FtP investigation, and suggest an increasing need to engage clearly and accurately with the GPhC at an early stage of the process.

To find out more on how we can help you, please visit our Investigations page.

Our thinking

  • London International Disputes Week: Trusts hurt: the fraud lawyer, the trust, and the avenues of attack (and defence)

    Tamasin Perkins

    Events

  • London International Disputes Week: Navigating International M&A Disputes: Insights and Strategies for 2025

    Stephen Burns

    Events

  • ESG Duties for Directors: Legal Obligations and Risks Under English Company Law

    Katie Bewick

    Insights

  • Directors’ Disqualification Under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986: What UK Directors Need to Know

    Claudine Morgan

    Insights

  • Thomas Snider and Adrian Mayer write for African Law & Business on rising levels of private investment between the UAE and Africa

    Adrian Mayer

    In the Press

  • The Telegraph quotes Tamasin Perkins on the Law Commission’s recent report: Modernising Wills Law

    Tamasin Perkins

    In the Press

  • The Law Commission: Modernising Wills Law Report - a disputes perspective

    Lydia Kember

    Quick Reads

  • Retrospectively changing Indefinite Leave to Remain rules for those currently on the 5 year route to a 10 year route is unlawful and unfair

    Paul McCarthy

    Quick Reads

  • Aline Wey Speirs writes for The Global Legal Post on the mediation process in Switzerland

    Aline Wey Speirs

    In the Press

  • World Intellectual Property Review quotes Olivia Gray on the post-Brexit treatment of design rights

    Olivia Gray

    In the Press

  • UK Immigration Reform – deeper restrictions on the horizon

    Paul McCarthy

    Quick Reads

  • The Court of Arbitration for Sport Appeals Procedure

    Benoît Pasquier

    Insights

  • Caroline Greenwell and Bella Henry write for Law 360 on the Santander fraud ruling and what it means for the UK banking sector

    Caroline Greenwell

    In the Press

  • Mastering Claims Against Estates: A Guide to Debt Enforcement in Switzerland

    Remo Wagner

    Quick Reads

  • Caroline Greenwell, Abigail Rushton and Bella Henry write for Solicitors Journal on the latest Business Plan from the Serious Fraud Office

    Caroline Greenwell

    In the Press

  • The QFC Court of Appeal Rules that the QFC is not an ‘Opt-In’ Jurisdiction

    Christopher O'Brien

    Insights

  • Tamasin Perkins and Lydia Kember write for Charity Finance on the collapse of Kids Company

    Tamasin Perkins

    In the Press

  • Singapore High Court Clarifies Status of Interim Measures in Arbitration

    Peter Brabant

    Quick Reads

  • Insolvency Administration Orders – Applications by Personal Representatives

    Daniel Moore

    Insights

  • Charles Russell Speechlys International Promotions 2025

    Bart Peerless

    News

Back to top