General Pharmaceutical Council Consultation On Freedom Of Conscience

EDM number 966 in 2016-17, proposed by Fiona Bruce on 22/02/2017.
Categorised under the topics of Health staff and professions and Medical ethics.

That this House expresses serious concern at the proposal from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) to remove freedom of conscience rights from pharmacists by replacing the existing right to refer model with a duty to dispense model; recognises that the proposal does not allow reasonable accommodation for healthcare professionals to exercise freedom of conscience; acknowledges that the GPhC have made clear that referrals to another service provider may be insufficient to comply with the new proposed guidance; warns that it may result in pharmacists with a conscientious objection not being able to accept a job where they would have to work independently; notes that those with a religious or moral objection to distributing certain drugs or devices may therefore be forced out of the profession and that potential trainees will be dissuaded from entering it; further notes that the pharmaceutical profession should reflect the diversity of worldviews in the society which it serves; advises that true person-centred care should respect the personal moral integrity of both pharmacists and clients; and calls on the Department of Health to urge the GPhC to refrain from unnecessarily eroding the freedom of conscience of pharmacists by implementing this proposal.

This motion has been signed by a total of 4 MPs.