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RPS writes letter to GPhC after assessment technical faults

RPS has written a letter to GPhC to express its concerns about the recent technical issues experienced by a number of trainees during the GPhC registration assessment, and to seek a fair and timely resolution.

GPhC confirmed that three trainees in Redditch experienced technical difficulties during the break of the recent assessment which couldn’t be resolved by Pearson Vue support, therefore meaning they were unable to complete paper two of the exam.

RPS have stated in the letter that there is an apparent lack any adequate contingency plan for IT failure of this type.

GPhC have also stated that the trainees will not be able to resit the assessment until November.

This will lead to significant wellbeing implications on the trainees, and RPS President Claire Anderson has said a paper should be available for the affected trainees before that time.

RPS President Claire Anderson wrote in the letter: “Given the devastating impact for those trainees who will be unable to work as pharmacists for three months through no fault of their own, I urge you to develop a fairer solution (such as a sitting as soon as possible, only for the paper for which there were problems), alongside any appropriate compensation.”

RPS is also seeking ‘contingency planning’ around future risks, as GPhC have confirmed the assessment will be digital for the next three years.

“It is now incumbent upon you as the regulator to take responsibility for this oversight and improve contingency planning to prevent such serious implications for trainees. I urge you to open up the GPhC risk assessment and mitigation plans to public scrutiny so that the profession can be assured this type of thing will not happen again,” Claire Anderson added.

Read the full letter here.

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