Clinical Governance
Published on: 10th July 2013 | Updated on: 1st October 2025
The clinical governance requirements of the community pharmacy contractual framework (CPCF), set out in Part 4 of Schedule 4 of the NHS (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013, cover a range of quality related issues detailed below.
The Community Pharmacy England and NHS Employers guidance for pharmacy contractors on clinical governance summarises the CPCF clinical governance requirements. All references to PCTs in this document should now be interpreted as relating to the local Integrated Care Board.
The NHS England clinical governance approved particulars define specific requirements which are set out in the Terms of Service.
Business continuity & emergency planning
Patient safety incident reporting
Raising concerns (Whistle-blowing)
Data security and Information Governance
Confidentiality
- Community Pharmacy England briefing on confidentiality, data protection and human rights
- Confidentiality and Data Protection staff declaration
- Confidentiality: NHS Code of Practice
- General Pharmaceutical Council Guidance on Patient Confidentiality
Chaperone policy
Community Pharmacy England briefing on Chaperone Policies – this guidance document summarises the Chaperone Guidance issued by the National Clinical Governance Support Team. It is not mandatory to have in place a chaperone policy, but pharmacy contractors may wish to consider the adoption of a policy in order to protect patients and staff.
Clinical governance lead
Outline job description for a clinical governance lead (Microsoft Word) – each pharmacy is required to have a clinical governance lead, to act as the main contact on clinical governance matters between the pharmacy and the local NHS England team.
Patient Satisfaction Survey (CPPQ)
Until September 2022 community pharmacy owners had to undertaken an annual survey of patient satisfaction with their services. This requirement was removed from the CPCF from 1st October 2022.
Requirement for references removed
The requirement to obtain references for all staff involved in the provision of NHS services (as part of a staff management programme) has been removed. This requirement was removed from 1st October 2025.
It remains open for pharmacy owners to seek references for new staff, if they want to do so.
Pharmacy owners must still check the qualifications of all staff involved in the provision of NHS services, have arrangements for appropriate induction of staff (including locums), and appropriate training for all staff for any role they carry out.
For more information on this topic please email services.team@cpe.org.uk
