Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of unregistered pharmacies that are operating.

Pharmacy is a protected title in law, and it is a criminal offence for a business to engage in regulated activity, for example supplying pharmacy only medicines to the public, and call themselves ‘a pharmacy’ if they are not registered with the pharmacy regulator. Any concerns about a business that is operating as a pharmacy while not being registered should be raised with either the General Pharmaceutical Council for Great Britain or the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Criminal Enforcement Unit (MHRA CEU) actively seeks to identify individuals involved in unlawful activity. Where appropriate, the MHRA CEU prosecutes those who put public health at risk, although are not able to release information on the number of ongoing investigations.