The Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (General) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025

Made: 25th June 2025

Coming into operation: 1st August 2025

In accordance with Article 5(3) of that Order, the Department of Health has before approving these Regulations consulted the Department for the Economy[^f00004].

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (General) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 and shall come into operation on 1st August 2025.

2

In these Regulations “the principal Regulations” means the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994[^f00005].

Amendment of the principal Regulations

3

In regulation 1 of the principal Regulations, in paragraph (2)—

• (a) in the definition of “approved degree”, after “Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain” insert “or the General Pharmaceutical Council”;

• (b) before the definition of “the Order” insert—

• “approved provider” means a provider of pre-registration training approved by the Council;
• “the Council” shall have the same meaning as in Article 2(2) of the Order, meaning the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland;
• “the General Pharmaceutical Council” means the body corporate established under Article 4 of the Pharmacy Order 2010;

• (c) before the definition of “the Secretary” insert—

• “registration examination” means any examination or assessment undertaken as part of, or following, the pre-registration training;

4

In regulation 8 of the principal Regulations, in paragraph (1)(b), after “Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain” insert “or the General Pharmaceutical Council”.

5

In regulation 9 of the principal Regulations—

• (a) for paragraph (2) substitute—

(2) The conditions referred to in paragraph (1) which a person is required to satisfy are that— (a) he has satisfactorily completed a course of pre-registration training in accordance with the conditions set out in Schedule 1; and (b) he has passed a registration examination approved by the Council in accordance with the conditions set out in Schedule 2.

• (b) omit paragraph (3);

• (c) in paragraph (4) -

• (i) omit sub-paragraph (a);

• (ii) in sub-paragraph (c) after “the Society” insert “or the General Pharmaceutical Council”.

6

Regulation 10 of the principal Regulations is omitted.

7

For Regulation 11 of the principal Regulations, substitute—

(11) A pharmacist registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council may be registered as a pharmaceutical chemist under the provisions of Article 8(4) of the Order.

8

For Schedule 1 (Form of Declaration) to the principal Regulations, substitute the Schedule 1 (Conditions for pre-registration training) set out in Schedule 1 (Schedule to be inserted as Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations) to these Regulations.

9

For Schedule 2 (Conditions applicable to Registration Examination) to the principal Regulations, substitute the Schedule 2 (Conditions for registration examination) set out in Schedule 2 (Schedule to be inserted as Schedule 2 to the principal Regulations) to these Regulations.

SCHEDULE 1 — Schedule to be inserted as Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations

SCHEDULE 2 — Schedule to be inserted as Schedule 2 to the principal Regulations

Signed

Sealed with the Common Seal of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland on 25th June 2025.

Geraldine O’Hare — President of the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland

Canice Ward — Chief Executive of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland

The Department of Health approves the Regulations.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Health on 25th June 2025.

Cathy Harrison — A senior officer of the Department of Health

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations amend the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994 (“the principal Regulations”) which prescribe the conditions for the course of pre-registration training and the registration examination required to be passed for registration as a pharmaceutical chemist with the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (“the Society”).

Regulations 3 and 4 amend regulations 1 and 8 of the principal Regulations to reflect the creation of the General Pharmaceutical Council (“GPhC”) as the statutory regulator of the pharmacy professions and pharmacy premises in Great Britain in place of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPhS) under Article 4 of the Pharmacy Act 2010. Regulation 3 also provides for definitions of “approved provider”, “the Council” and “the General Pharmaceutical Council” to provide clarity and a definition of “registration examination” to mean any examination or assessment undertaken as part of, or following, the pre-registration training.

Regulation 5(a) substitutes regulation 9(2) of the principal Regulations in respect of the conditions for the pre-registration course of practical training and the registration examination. Regulation 5(b) omits regulation 9(3) of the principal Regulations to remove the provisions allowing for annotation of a qualification as a supplementary prescriber, as this qualification is no longer available. Regulation 5(c) amends regulation 9(4) of the principal Regulations. It removes the requirement in regulation 9(4)(a) of the principal Regulations for a two-year period of registration before annotation of a qualification as an independent prescriber. For the purposes of “independent prescriber” annotation on the register, regulation 5(c) also adds the General Pharmaceutical Council at regulation 9(4)(c) of the principal Regulations, as another acceptable accreditor of independent prescriber training.

Regulation 6 omits regulation 10 of the principal Regulations and removes the current requirement on a person who holds an approved degree to notify the registrar of the date of commencement and other details of his proposed course of pre-registration training before embarking on that training as such notification is no longer required.

Regulation 7 amends regulation 11 of the principal Regulations to reflect the current arrangements for applicants with pharmacy qualifications or registration outside Northern Ireland.

Regulations 8 and 9 substitute Schedules 1 and 2 to the principal Regulations to reflect the revised conditions for the course of pre-registration training and the registration examination in line with the amendments to regulation 9 of the principal Regulations.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: The Department of Health was formerly the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: see 2016 c.5 (N.I.), section 1(5) and formerly the Department of Health and Social Services: see S.I.1999/283 (N.I.1), Article 3(6).

[^f00002]: Article 25A was inserted by Article 9 of S.R. 2012 No. 308.

[^f00003]: S.I. 1976/1213 (N.I. 22) the relevant amendments are 1981 c.55, S.I. 1994/429 (N.I.2), S.R. 2004 No. 78, S.R. 2008 No. 192, S.R. 2012 No. 308, and S.I. 2015/806.

[^f00004]: Article 5(3) references consultation with the Department of Education. Relevant Department of Education function subsequently transferred to Department for the Economy; see S.R. 1999 No. 481, 2001 c.15 (N.I.), 2016 c.5 (N.I.), and S.R, 2016 No. 76.

[^f00005]: S.R. 1994 No. 202 as amended by S.R. 1996 No. 187, S.R. 1999 No 217, S.R. 2002 No. 206, S.R. 2003 No. 356, S.R. 2004 No. 236, S.R. 2005 No. 63, S.R. 2006 Nos. 207 and 240, S.R. 2007 No. 287, S.R. 2008 No. 222, S.R. 2009 No. 166, S.R. 2016 No. 170 and S.R. 2017 No. 188.

Editorial notes

[^key-433ce0d13644d75db2ba31f433a11046]: Reg. 1 in operation at 1.8.2025, see reg. 1

[^key-d044c947079d4f6c5eb9e106923de3a5]: Reg. 2 in operation at 1.8.2025, see reg. 1

[^key-a9d8e13b2bbc6fbba5c6ab0568fd02d1]: Reg. 3 in operation at 1.8.2025, see reg. 1

[^key-9c664f0c61413bfe3fafff98ecb4045e]: Reg. 4 in operation at 1.8.2025, see reg. 1

[^key-ac382adebeb50e7edcc948eec1732465]: Reg. 5 in operation at 1.8.2025, see reg. 1

[^key-0a20297f500922bec203c274b7c67b40]: Reg. 6 in operation at 1.8.2025, see reg. 1

[^key-ebcc1affe307fb239c4c05eb91f381e6]: Reg. 7 in operation at 1.8.2025, see reg. 1

[^key-c54585efd64d5b9490e0d45370123af0]: Reg. 8 in operation at 1.8.2025, see reg. 1

[^key-a9d0eb3e4ecf32b12f697592596fe853]: Reg. 9 in operation at 1.8.2025, see reg. 1

[^key-c32d7121ac79a775b8d7316ad08c2d69]: Sch. 1 in operation at 1.8.2025, see reg. 1

[^key-a0064f494aa709975e8906bfcb01dfc9]: Sch. 2 in operation at 1.8.2025, see reg. 1