From 7 January 2026 the law changes regarding pre-checked and bagged prescriptions

PDA statement on the Human Medicines (Authorisation by Pharmacists and Supervision by Pharmacy Technicians) Order 2025

This legislation marks a significant step which attempts to modernise pharmacy practice across Great Britain, and the PDA recognises and supports the principal intention behind these changes. It is intended that patients should benefit from pharmacists being able to focus more of their time on undertaking a clinical check and maximising their contribution to the pharmaceutical care of the patient; while pharmacy technicians use their skills to enhance workflow, safety and efficiency of the assembly and supply process.

The first part of this process is that from 7 January 2026, pharmacists will be able to authorise, when absent or treated as absent, the handing out of medicines which they have previously clinically checked and bagged.

To protect patients and ensure pharmacists, employed or self‑employed, are protected, the PDA calls for a mandated requirement that all pharmacy owners, small and large, must have robust procedures in place before implementing the 7 January 2026 absent‑authorisation provision.

Without these robust procedures, no pharmacy owner should implement these changes, as doing so may compromise patient safety and expose pharmacists to unnecessary risks and liability.

Regulators and commissioners should make sure that the presence and effectiveness of these procedures are a condition of operation and contract compliance for any contractor seeking to use the absent‑authorisation flexibilities.

From 10 December 2026, the remaining provisions of this legislation will take effect, including authorising pharmacy technicians to undertake or supervise the preparation, assembly, dispensing, sale and supply of medicines, and enabling pharmacy technicians to take primary responsibility for preparation and assembly in hospital aseptic facilities (HMR 2012, Regulation 4A) – subject to the publication of supporting standards and guidance by the GPhC, Pharmaceutical Society NI and professional leadership bodies.

The PDA notes the GPhC Council’s decision (11 December 2025) to begin a public consultation on the draft standards for Superintendent Pharmacists and Responsible Pharmacists, and Rules for Responsible Pharmacists. Clear, robust standards for governance and accountability are essential to introduce these changes safely and effectively.

While the PDA supports modernisation, it emphasises that role clarity and professional identity are non‑negotiable. The Leng Review into physician associates and anaesthesia associates highlighted how blurring professional boundaries can undermine patient safety, professional integrity and public trust. That learning is directly relevant to pharmacy.

In particular, the PDA believes the following principles from the Leng Review should inform pharmacy supervision and workforce policy:

1. Distinct professional titles and scopes of practice
   Ambiguous umbrella terms such as ‘pharmacy professionals’ risk confusing the public and diluting accountability. Titles and job descriptions must transparently reflect supporting versus clinical leadership roles; the two groups should simply be called pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
2. Credentialing and competency‑based progression
   Expanded responsibilities for any role must be contingent on formal, verified training and credentialing, not assumed by custom, convenience or length of service.
3. Clear team structures and named clinical oversight
   Patients deserve clarity on who is responsible for clinical oversight and decisions. Governance should make supervision explicit and auditable.
4. Limits on undifferentiated patient care
   Care pathways must ensure that pharmacists with the right depth of training can lead the assessment and decision‑making for undifferentiated presentations.

Community pharmacy is the most accessible part of primary care, with patients visiting pharmacies far more frequently than other settings. That access creates a clinical opportunity and is an important responsibility: pharmacists should lead on medicines safety, prescribing (where enabled), complex counselling and escalation decisions.

As the supervision framework evolves, the PDA will continue to advocate that:

• Pharmacists remain the clinical decision‑makers for patient‑facing care in all community pharmacy settings.
• Pharmacy technicians must operate within well‑defined, supportive boundaries of practice, with the levels of their training being reflective of the scope of their work. Only in this way can they enhance safety and efficiency without diluting clinical leadership.
• Superintendent and Responsible Pharmacist standards must explicitly codify organisational and professional accountability, including risk management where authorisation occurs during absence.
• Following on from the strong recommendations of the Leng Review, now that the preparation, assembly, sale and supply role can be separated from the clinical check in the way proposed, and because the new legislation creates additional requirements around the new pharmacy technician authorisation, the single set of standards that has so far been relied upon by both pharmacists and pharmacist technicians should be replaced by two separate and distinct sets of standards.

Learn more

• GPhC welcomes new legislation and gets ready to consult on supporting standards and rules
• Government announcement: Human Medicines (Authorisation by Pharmacists and Supervision by Pharmacy Technicians) Order 2025.
• Independent review: The Leng Review—final report (Prof. Gillian Leng CBE, DHSC, July 2025).

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