Blind reviews during fitness to practice investigations

Responding to news that the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) will trial redacting information going to fitness to practise committees that could identify a pharmacist’s race and/or ethnicity, RPS Inclusion and Belonging Co-ordinator Amandeep Doll said:

“We very much welcome and support this pilot as a step in the right direction to address systemic racism and create a fairer and more consistent approach to regulation of the profession.

“It will help address the biases that can occur amongst panel members and have an impact on the long-term over-representation of BAME pharmacists in fitness to practise investigations.

“A survey of the profession which informed our Inclusion and Diversity strategy identifies race as a barrier to working in pharmacy and an area where more support is needed. Effective regulation is essential and it’s good to see the GPhC addressing the importance of bias in this pilot.”