The Council of the Pharmaceutical Society NI (the Council) has launched an 8-week public consultation on new Indicative Sanctions Guidance for its Statutory Committee and is seeking responses from the public, pharmacists and interested stakeholders.
Commenting on the launch of the public consultation, Mark Neale, Head of Public Affairs, said:
“This is an important consultation which should be of interest to members of the public and pharmacists in Northern Ireland. We are tasked with protecting the public and when a pharmacist’s Fitness to Practise has been found to be impaired, it is crucial that an appropriate sanction, which protects the public, whilst being right and proportionate, is imposed.
“The Statutory Committee of the Pharmaceutical Society NI considers and adjudicates on serious Fitness to Practise allegations made against pharmacists in Northern Ireland. It is independent of Council and its decisions are based on the merits of the case in front of it.
“Indicative Sanctions Guidance is provided by Council to the Statutory Committee as a reference point when its is deciding on an appropriate sanction. The Indicative Sanctions Guidance seeks to support consistent, proportionate and fair decision making which reflects current case law and best regulatory practice.
“The Statutory Committee must pay proper regard to the Indicative Sanctions Guidance when deciding upon sanction and must provide sound reasons if it chooses to depart from the Guidance.
“We want to ensure that the draft Indicative Sanctions Guidance we have developed is appropriate and will ensure the public is protected, whilst being proportionate.
“When the consultation closes Council will consider all the responses, a full consultation report will be published and dependent on the feedback received new Indicative Sanctions Guidance will be published.
“We encourage all interested parties to participate in this Consultation to ensure that we get this important guidance document right”.
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The consultation will close at 12 noon on Friday 26 October 2018.
The draft Indicative Sanctions Guidance, information on how to respond to the consultation and relevant consultation documents can be found by following this link: www.psni.org.uk/publications/consultations/