The function of the Disciplinary Committee is set out in Article 52 of the Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians Order 2007 (as amended) and Rule 8 of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (Fitness to Practise and Disqualification etc) Rules 2007 (as amended).
For the Order and Rules, click on the links below:
Contact:
Tel: 020 7572 2618
Fax: 020 7572 2510
e-mail: gracie.edevbie@rpsgb.org
Tel: 0207 572 2724
Fax: 020 7572 2510
e-mail: sonia.purser@rpsgb.org
For more information click on the links below:
The members of the Disciplinary Committee are:
John Burrow (Chairman)For the register of members' interests, click on a member's name in the list above
For an explanation of the register of members' interests, click here
All Committee members are expected to abide by a Code of Conduct. To see the Code, click here
For information relating to current and recent Disciplinary Committee hearings, click on the links below:
| 2010 | |||||
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Hearings notice Determinations notice
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| 2009 | |||||
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| December | November | October | September | August | July |
Hearings notice
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Determinations notice
Determination | Hearings notice
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| June | May | April | March | February | January |
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Hearings noticeHearings notice
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| 2008 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December | November | October | September | August | July |
| Determination ( Michael Charles Edward McDonald and Nicholas Bradley Mortimer) Determination (Larry Ivan Goodyer) Hearings notice (15 December) Determinations notice (8-19 December) Hearings notice (8-12 December) |
Determination |
Hearings notice (27-29 October) Hearings notice (13-22 October) |
Hearings notice |
Hearings notice (18-22 August) Determination (Amir-Mehdy Parsi) Particulars of allegation (Amir-Mehdy Parsi) Determination (John Russell Pugh) Particulars of allegation (John Russell Pugh) Determination (Sian Tiong Lim) Determination (Jyoti Patel) Notice of inquiry (Sian Tiong Lim) Hearings notice (12 -15 August) Determinations notice (12-15 August)
| Notice of inquiry (Binta Yenwo) Determination (Binta Yenwo) Determinations notice (23 July 2008) Hearings notice (23 July) Determination (Terence Robert Coleman) Hearings notice (8-9 July) Inquiries notice (8-9 July) |
| June | May | April | March | February | January |
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Hearings notice (9-12 June) Determinations notice (9-12 June 2008) Notice of inquiry (Melvin Philip Forman) Determination (Melvin Philip Forman) |
Determinations notice (29 May) Determinations notice (27-28 May) Hearings notice (27-29 May) Hearings notice (13-14 May) Appeal (12-16 May) Determinations notice (12-16 May) Hearings notice (12 - 16 May) |
Determinations notice (25 April) Hearings notice (21-25 April) Determinations notice (7-11 April) Determinations notice (11 April) Hearings notice (7-11 April) Determinations notice (10 April) |
Hearings notice (3-7 March) Determinations notice (3-7 March) Hearings notice (17-20 March) |
<
Hearings notice (26 February) Determinations notice (26 February) Hearings notice (18-22 February) Determinations notice (18-22 February) Determinations notice (20 February) Determination (Salvatore Ferrigno) Hearings notice (11-15 February) Determinations notice (11-15 February) |
Inquiries notice (3-4 January) Inquiries notice (7-11 January) Notice of inquiry (Ashokkumar Tanna) Determinations notice (9 & 11 January) Determination (Ashokkumar Tanna, Lalit Tanna, Bhagyachandra Tanna) Determination (Ashokkumar Tanna) Inquiries notice (21-24 January) Notice of inquiry (Salvatore Ferrigno) Notice of inquiry (Yousef Mohammad) Notice of inquiry (Matthew Mollen) Determinations notice (21-24 January) Determination (Matthew Mollen) Determination (Yousef Mohammad) Determination (Salvatore Ferrigno) |
| 2007 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December | November | October | September | August | July |
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Inquiries notice (4-5 December) Determinations notice (4-5 December) Notice of inquiry (Robert Sherman) Determination (Robert Sherman) Inquiries notice (10-13 December) Determinations notice (10-12 December) |
Inquiries notice (5-8 November) Determinations notice (5-8 November) |
Inquiries notice (10-12 October) Determinations notice (10-12 October) |
Inquiries notice (10-14 September) Notice of inquiry (Mark Bowyer) Notice of inquiry (Lawrence Mason) Determinations notice (10-14 September) Determination (Mark Bowyer) Determination (Lawrence Mason) Inquiries notice (27-28 September) Notice of inquiry (Adegboyega Salako) Notice of inquiry (Bharat Suchak) Determinations notice (27-28 September) Determination (Bharat Suchak) Determination (Adegboyego Salako) |
Inquiries notice (6-10 August) Notice of inquiry (Bharat Suchak) Notice of inquiry (Robert Nicholson) Determinations notice (6-10 August) Determination (Robert Nicholson) Inquiries notice (20-23 August) Notice of inquiry (SP Khanna) Notice of inquiry (AP Khanna) Notice of inquiry (Adegboyega Salako) Determinations notice (20-23 August) Determinations notice (31 August) |
Inquiries notice (11-13 July) Notice of inquiry (Mazair Iqbal) Notice of inquiry (Mazair Iqbal) Determinations notice (11-13 July) Determination (Mazair Iqbal) Determination (Yui Pui Tsang) Determination (Bhupinder Singh Bharj) |
| May | April | ||||
| Determinations notice Determination (Samina Sheikh) |
Determinations notice Determination (Atul Gorhandas Kantaria) |
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The Disciplinary Committee is required to consider all cases referred to it. In disciplinary cases, the Committee is required to determine whether a registrant’s fitness to practise is impaired or a corporate body has committed misconduct, and if so, whether or not to impose a sanction. In registration cases, the Disciplinary Committtee may be required to make findings of fact or to give advice.
The procedure for hearings before the Disciplinary Committee is set out in Part 6 of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (Fitness to Practise and Disqualification etc) Rules 2007 (as amended). The Disciplinary Committee sits in public, though it may hold part of a hearing in private (Rule 42). The Disciplinary Committee may receive any evidence (including oral evidence) subject only to the requirements of relevance and fairness (Rule 30). The Disciplinary Committee may take a breach of the Code of Ethics into account when deciding whether or not the registrant’s fitness to practise is impaired (Rule 30(9)).
Before a hearing is held, the timetable for disclosure of the parties’ respective cases set out in Rules 17 and 18 must be complied with, as must any relevant requirements set out in a practice direction issued by the Committee under rule 26. Where the timetable needs to be varied, a case management meeting may be convened and case management directions issued (Rules 24 and 25). A Notice of Hearing must be served on the registrant, not less than 28 days in advance of the hearing, unless the registrant agrees otherwise (Rule 20). Twenty-four hours before the hearing, the parties are required to exchange a schedule of costs and to serve a copy of their Schedules on the Committee Secretariat (Rule 48(1)).
The Disciplinary Committee uses the civil standard of proof (Rule 45). The Registrar must notify the registrant of any decision made by the Disciplinary Committee, together with the reasons for that decision (Article 52(7)). In practice, this will be done by the Committee Secretariat.
For a guide to proceedings before the Committee, click on the link below:
For a guide to the sanctions available to the Committee, and the way in which the Committee will approach its powers of sanction, click on the link below:
The statutory registration of pharmacy technicians is expected in July 2009 once Order 1B of the Pharmacy and Pharmacy Technicians Order 2007 enables this provision. This will mean that technicians will be subject to the same regulatory arrangements as pharmacists.
Currently pharmacy technicians join a voluntary register and sign up to a voluntary registration protocol approved by the Society’s Council. They also agree to be bound by the Code of Ethics for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians and to be subject to investigation and be bound by the outcome of a statutory committee in cases involving fitness to practice or misconduct. If a pharmacy technician has not joined the voluntary register then they do not currently come within the jurisdiction of the Society.
In January 2009 the Society put in place an interim mechanism consisting of 2 practice directions approved by an interim Disciplinary Committee. These allow for fitness to practise or misconduct cases involving technicians on the voluntary register to be dealt with by an interim Investigating Committee or an interim Disciplinary Committee.
The two practice directions can be found by clicking on the links below:
Interim Investigating Committee practice direction
Interim Disciplinary Committee practice direction
On 1 April 2009 the Investigating Committee approved a set of referral criteria as a guide to the matters that an interim Investigating Committee will take into account in deciding whether or not to refer a matter to an interim Disciplinary Committee. To view the referral criteria, click on the link below:
Referral criteria in respect of pharmacy technicians
For a guide to the matters that the Committee will take into account when considering applications for restoration to the register, and an application form for restoration to the register, click on the links below:
For information relating to interim orders made by the Disciplinary Committee, click here
Anyone wishing to appeal a decision of the Committee must appeal directly to the High Court. For a fact sheet on appeals, click on the link below: