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Pharmacy Council notification · Written to Code of Ethics

Ethics and Ethical Standards for Pharmacists for Pharmacists facing a Pharmacy Council investigation, complaint or allegation

The allegation concerns your ethical judgement, behaviour or conduct as a pharmacist.

  • Supply — a risky supply not queried, or a refusal not explained
  • Errors — a dispensing error not disclosed to the patient or prescriber
  • Dishonesty — a claim, record or declaration that is not true
  • Controlled drugs — a register that does not reconcile, or stock taken
  • Boundaries — a boundaries breach with a patient or a colleague
  • Confidentiality — a patient’s medicine discussed at the counter or online
  • Public statements — misleading health claims or misinformation
  • Any other — ethical concern or allegation of unethical conduct

Facing an allegation of unethical behaviour or misconduct like these — from the Pharmacy Council, a Professional Conduct Committee or the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal?

Help with a Pharmacy Council investigation, complaint or allegation starts here. This CPD course helps you remediate — and demonstrate the remediation, with a dated certificate for your written response, your portfolio or a Committee or Tribunal direction.

Immediate access · certificate on completion · twelve months' access

  • 2 CPD hours
  • Self-paced
  • Written for New Zealand
  • CPD certificate
  • Bulk buy: any 5 for NZ$850 · any 10 for NZ$1,400

At a glance

Who it is for
Any pharmacist facing a Pharmacy Council complaint, notification or allegation, a Professional Conduct Committee investigation or a competence review about ethical conduct, behaviour or decisions — an allegation of unethical behaviour, conduct or action
Authorities covered
The Pharmacy Council of New Zealand, its Competence and Fitness to Practise Committee, its Professional Conduct Committees and the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal
Length
10 sections, 58 lessons, 2 CPD hours
Format
Self-paced, online, immediate access, twelve months from purchase
Certificate
Issued by Healthcare Ethics Courses on completion, dated, with the course title and 2 CPD hours
Price
NZ$200 · any 5 for NZ$850 · any 10 for NZ$1,400
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Certificate issued by Healthcare Ethics CoursesRemediation courses for regulatory processes.

2CPD hours, issued by Healthcare Ethics Courses
10Sections, nine closing with a reflective quiz
56Lessons, plus a post-course assessment
NZ$200One off. Twelve months' access

Who this course is for

Facing an allegation of unethical behaviour or conduct

The Council’s letter says a supply, a refusal, a claim, a confidence or a public statement fell short of the Code of Ethics. This course is how you account for it — and show you have remediated.

Dealing with a Pharmacy Council complaint or notification

A patient, a prescriber, your employer, the funder or Medicines Control has raised a concern and the Registrar has asked for your response. Many matters end with the Registrar on the strength of it; this course gives it the structure the Council reads for.

Before the Competence and Fitness to Practise Committee

The Committee may order an independent review against the Competence Standards and set a programme, conditions and monitoring. A dated certificate and a reflective account written against the Code are evidence the Committee or your recertification portfolio can record.

Under investigation by a Professional Conduct Committee

Two pharmacists and a lay member have the file and want your response — and usually a meeting — before they decide what to recommend. They read for insight in your reflection, and for dated, targeted ethics remediation alongside it.

Facing a misconduct charge or hearing before the Tribunal

A charge of professional misconduct has been laid, or a penalty is being decided. Remediation completed before the hearing — dated, documented — is weighed every time.

Expecting a complaint to reach the Council

A complaint to the pharmacy, the Health and Disability Commissioner, a prescriber or the funder can become a Pharmacy Council matter. Remediation done now is documented before it does.

The concerns this course speaks to

Supply of restricted and high-risk medicines

Opioids, benzodiazepines, an emergency supply, a prescription that looks wrong, a patient who is clearly dependent. A valid prescription is not the whole answer: the Council’s statements expect a query, and the course treats the decision — and the query, and the record — as what a reviewer reads first.

Errors and disclosure

The wrong strength of an antihypertensive supplied, a mislabelled antibiotic taken for three days — and what the patient and the prescriber were told, and when. The Code requires honesty when care has caused harm, and an error followed by concealment is how a dispensing matter becomes a conduct matter.

Probity and an allegation of dishonesty

A claim to the funder for prescriptions not dispensed, a dose change not charted at the rest home, a declaration to the Council that is not accurate, a practising certificate falsified. Honesty and integrity is the Code’s second principle, and the Council treats dishonesty as misconduct whatever the outcome.

Controlled drugs, stock and the register

A controlled-drug register that does not reconcile, stock taken from an employer, pharmacy-only medicines supplied from stolen stock. The Medicines Act and the Misuse of Drugs Act add the law, the Council can refer the matter to Medicines Control, and theft has ended registrations at the Tribunal.

Professional and ethical boundaries

A regular patient who became a friend, personal matters discussed across the counter, messages outside the pharmacy, a relationship with a customer or a colleague. The Code places the responsibility with the pharmacist; the course treats the first drift as the moment the standard is engaged.

Confidentiality on the shop floor and the screen

A patient’s antidepressant discussed with a mutual friend, counselling given within earshot of the queue, a post about a customer with enough context to identify them, a video from the dispensary. Respect and protect confidentiality is the Code’s fourth principle, and the Health Information Privacy Code adds the law.

Public statements and commercial pressure

Misleading health claims made publicly or online, a brand promoted for a supplier incentive, a supplement recommended because its maker sponsors the CPD evening. The patient’s health is the Code’s first principle, and misleading public statements have ended a registration at the Tribunal.

When two obligations collide

An informed refusal against your judgement; confidentiality against someone else’s safety; conscience against a lawful request; counselling cut short by the queue; rongoā alongside prescribed medicine. The course teaches how to name the tension, decide, query when the decision is not yours alone, record — and tell the patient.

Facing a Pharmacy Council investigation, complaint or allegation? This course helps you remediate — and demonstrate it.

Buy this course — NZ$200

What the course covers

Ten sections and 58 lessons, with a reflective quiz closing each of the first nine and a post-course assessment at the end.

Section 01

Why Ethics Matters in New Zealand Pharmacy Practice

Five lessons

Section 02

Core Ethical Principles — Autonomy, Beneficence, Non-Maleficence, Justice

Five lessons

Section 03

PCNZ Code of Ethics (2018): Key Ethical Expectations

Seven lessons

Section 04

Common Ethical Dilemmas in Pharmacy Practice in Aotearoa

Eight lessons

Section 05

Confidentiality, Digital Professionalism, and Privacy (Health Information Privacy Code 2020)

Six lessons

Section 06

Probity, Honesty, and Accountability in Pharmacy Practice (New Zealand)

Six lessons

Section 07

Weak vs Strong Ethical Responses — Case Comparisons

Seven lessons

Section 08

Demonstrating Ethics in Fitness-to-Practise and Remediation Processes

Six lessons

Section 09

Embedding Ethics into Professional Identity and Resilience

Six lessons

Section 10

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Key takeaways and the post-course assessment

Show every lesson title
Section 01 · Why Ethics Matters in New Zealand Pharmacy Practice
The Role of Ethics in Pharmacy; Why the Pharmacy Council Prioritises Ethics; Ethics and Professional Identity in Aotearoa; Consequences of Ethical Lapses; Why Ethics Matters Now More Than Ever.
Section 02 · Core Ethical Principles — Autonomy, Beneficence, Non-Maleficence, Justice
Autonomy — Respecting Patient Choice; Beneficence — Acting in the Patient’s Best Interest; Non-Maleficence — "Do No Harm"; Justice — Fairness and Equity in Care; Balancing Principles in Practice.
Section 03 · PCNZ Code of Ethics (2018): Key Ethical Expectations
Principle 1 — Make the Health and Wellbeing of the Patient Your First Priority; Principle 4 — Act with Honesty and Integrity; Principle 6 — Provide Competent and Safe Care; Principle 2 — Respect and Protect Patient Confidentiality; Principle 3 — Promote Equity and Cultural Safety; Accountability and Transparency; Digital Professionalism.
Section 04 · Common Ethical Dilemmas in Pharmacy Practice in Aotearoa
Informed Refusal vs Beneficence; Confidentiality vs Duty to Protect; Cultural Safety and Patient Choice; Conflicts of Interest and Commercial Pressure; Digital Professionalism and Social Media; Supply of Restricted or High-Risk Medicines; Errors and Disclosure; Inter-Professional Conflicts.
Section 05 · Confidentiality, Digital Professionalism, and Privacy (Health Information Privacy Code 2020)
The Ethical Duty of Confidentiality; Legal Framework — Privacy Act 2020 and Health Information Privacy Code 2020; Confidentiality in the Digital Era; Digital Professionalism and Social Media; Telehealth and Remote Pharmacy Services; Consequences of Breaches.
Section 06 · Probity, Honesty, and Accountability in Pharmacy Practice (New Zealand)
Probity as a Core Ethical Duty; Honesty in Documentation and Communication; Financial Integrity and Conflicts of Interest; Accountability in Practice; Consequences of Breaching Probity and Accountability; Building a Culture of Probity and Accountability.
Section 07 · Weak vs Strong Ethical Responses — Case Comparisons
Dispensing Error; Consent and Patient Autonomy; Boundary Concern; Financial Misconduct; Disrespectful Communication; Cultural Safety Lapse; Lessons Across Cases.
Section 08 · Demonstrating Ethics in Fitness-to-Practise and Remediation Processes
Why Ethical Demonstration Matters; How the PCNZ Assesses Ethical Behaviour; Weak vs Strong Demonstrations; Evidence That Reassures the PCNZ; Remediation Portfolios in New Zealand; Long-Term Monitoring and Ethical Growth.
Section 09 · Embedding Ethics into Professional Identity and Resilience
Ethics as Professional Identity; Daily Ethical Habits; Reflection and Accountability as Ongoing Practice; Building Resilience to Sustain Ethics; Mentorship and Role Modelling; Sustaining Ethics Across a Career.
Section 10 · Conclusion and Key Takeaways
Conclusion; Key Takeaways.

How to respond to a Pharmacy Council notification, complaint or allegation

The Registrar, the Competence and Fitness to Practise Committee, a Professional Conduct Committee and the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal all read a response for the same four parts. The course teaches each one.

The dispensing record holds the transaction; your response has to hold the reasoning.

  1. The obligations in playBoth of them: the patient’s choice and their safety, the prescriber’s authority and your own judgement, the patient’s interest and the pharmacy’s.The course maps each to the Code of Ethics’s seven principles and the Council’s statements, so you can name them.
  2. The conflictWhere they pointed different ways, stated plainly.The course’s New Zealand pharmacy dilemmas show what the tension looks like on the page.
  3. The decision, and whether you queriedWhat you knew, whether the prescriber was contacted and what was said, and why one obligation prevailed.Weak and strong responses to six pharmacy events show the difference.
  4. The reconsiderationWhat you would weigh differently now, with dated work that proves it — and restitution where money is involved.This course is the dated item you attach — and, for an integrity or boundary allegation, the remediation targeted to the lapse.

The Council asks whether a pattern is emerging — and reads an acknowledgement followed by but the pharmacy was as the absence of insight.

Take advice from your indemnity insurer, your union or a lawyer before you respond to anyone.

Facing a Pharmacy Council investigation, complaint or allegation? This course helps you remediate — and demonstrate it.

Buy this course — NZ$200

How this course helps with a Pharmacy Council investigation

The response that closed the matter beside the one that did not

Six events from New Zealand pharmacies run through the course in pairs: the wrong strength of an antihypertensive supplied, a vaccination given without the side-effects explained, a regular patient who became a friend, a claim for prescriptions not yet dispensed, an elderly patient’s worry dismissed, whānau turned away from counselling. In each pair the pharmacist who names the principle of the Code first, does not reach for the queue or the owner, and points to something dated is the one whose matter closed.

What a Committee or a competence reviewer will weigh

Counts: this course’s dated certificate; CPD targeted to the principle concerned; an audit of dispensing, claims or the controlled-drug register repeated after an interval; a mentor’s or peer’s reports; patient feedback gathered on purpose; Māori-led cultural safety education where it is engaged; and restitution where money is involved. Counts for little: hours on another subject, the prescriber blamed, an apology for the complaint, and reflection that argues. For the stages from the first letter to the Tribunal, see the Council investigation process, explained.

Read the primary sources

Who wrote it

Dr Shehzad Iqbal, course author and facilitator at Healthcare Ethics New Zealand

Dr Shehzad Iqbal

Course author and facilitator, Healthcare Ethics New Zealand

Dr Iqbal has designed and delivered ethics, probity and professionalism training for healthcare professionals since 2020, working with registrants across regulated health professions, online and face to face. He combines clinical practice with formal postgraduate training in healthcare law and ethics.

MBBS · MRCS · MRCGP · Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Law and Ethics, University of Dundee

Written and reviewed by Dr Shehzad Iqbal. Last reviewed .

In short

Ethics and Ethical Standards for Pharmacists is a self-paced remediation course of 2 hours for pharmacists registered with the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand facing a notification, investigation, complaint or allegation, mapped to the Council’s Code of Ethics 2018. It teaches the four ethical principles as they arise at the counter and in the dispensary, in the Code’s own words and those of the Council’s statements, reads them through Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and works through the situations that produce complaints about pharmacists: supply and refusal of high-risk medicines, counselling and consent, confidentiality on the shop floor and online, commercial pressure, errors and disclosure, conscience, honesty in claims and the register, boundaries and fitness to dispense. Six New Zealand case comparisons show the response that ends a matter beside the one that does not. Ten sections with a reflective quiz after each of the first nine, a post-course assessment, and a dated certificate from Healthcare Ethics Courses for your recertification. Remediation, not advice: no course decides a matter, and your indemnity insurer, professional body or a lawyer should read anything before it goes to the Council.

Four principles at the counter

Pharmacy ethics is decided in seconds, in public, with a prescription in one hand and a queue in view. The four principles agree on most transactions; the one that produces a complaint is the one on which they did not, or on which one was quietly outweighed by the business. The course maps each to the Code of Ethics’ seven principles, to the Council’s statements, and to the Medicines Act, the Misuse of Drugs Act and the Health Information Privacy Code.

Three things are pharmacy-specific. The query: a pharmacist stands between a prescriber and a patient, and the Council reads for whether the query was made. The transaction: supply is paid for and claimed, so honesty in claims and in the register is an ethical duty before it is a financial one. The counter — and now the screen: confidentiality, respect and what a pharmacist says in public are tested in front of other people.

What these words mean

The three terms that decide where a matter goes, and the other words the course uses.

Professional Conduct Committee
The committee the Council or Board appoints under s 71 of the Act to investigate a conduct concern: two members of the profession and a layperson with a legal adviser. It asks for your written response, may hear from you, and recommends anything from no further action, through counselling and a competence or health review, to a charge before the Tribunal (s 80).
Professional misconduct
The Tribunal’s ground under s 100 of the Act: malpractice or negligence in your scope of practice, or conduct that has brought or was likely to bring discredit to the profession. Dishonesty, a boundary breach and a breach of confidence are among the findings made under it.
The three routes under the HPCA Act
Fitness to practise is the phrase practitioners use for the whole process. Under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 the Council or Board takes one of three routes: a competence review (your practice against the required standard); the health process — the Act’s fitness to practise provisions, for impairment by a mental or physical condition; or a referral of your conduct to a Professional Conduct Committee, which can lay a charge of professional misconduct before the Tribunal. Which route your letter names tells you how the matter is being treated.
The four principles, counselling and consent, and the other terms the course uses
Autonomy
The patient’s right to decide about their medicines on adequate information and without pressure. At the counter: counselling that is real, the alternative offered, the refusal respected and recorded. Breached by supply without a word and by treating a refusal as non-adherence.
Beneficence
The obligation to act for the patient’s benefit as they and their circumstances define it, which in pharmacy often means querying the prescriber, offering the cheaper option, or refusing a supply. It does not override an informed refusal.
Non-maleficence
The obligation not to cause avoidable harm by act or omission: the second check, the interaction caught, the high-risk supply questioned, working within scope, not dispensing while unfit. The principle a competence review often engages.
Justice
Fairness between patients and to the public: attention on need, non-discrimination between funded and private patients, honesty in claims on public funds. Engaged whenever the queue is long and whenever the pharmacist’s own interest is in the room.
Counselling and consent
The conversation that makes a supply informed: what the medicine is for, how to take it, what to expect, what to do if. In the Code an obligation of competent and safe care; in law the basis of the patient’s informed consent. A supply without it is a consent failure.
Confidentiality
The duty to keep health information private under the Code and the Health Information Privacy Code, tested in pharmacy by the shop floor, the small town and the screen. Not absolute: disclosure is permitted in defined circumstances, and the course covers how a decision either way is made and recorded.
Conscientious objection
A pharmacist’s right to decline to supply a lawful product on grounds of conscience, conditional on saying so, not obstructing the patient’s access elsewhere, and continuing all other care. Complaints arise from the conditions, not the right.
Disclosure
Openness with the patient and the prescriber when a dispensing error has caused or risked harm: what happened, what to do, what will change. Required by the Code’s principle of honesty, and the subject of a companion course on candour.

The provisions an ethics concern about a pharmacist engages

The Pharmacy Council publishes its own standards of ethical conduct under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, and an ethics notification about a pharmacist is measured against them. These are the standard itself and the provisions of the Act the notification runs under.

Pharmacy Council — Code of Ethics 2018

Seven principles under care, integrity and competence, with the Competence Standards for Aotearoa New Zealand Pharmacists and the Council’s statements. It is the standard the course is written to and the document the Pharmacy Council reads your response against. Read it.

For this course: The course maps the four principles onto the Code of Ethics 2018 so that a response can cite the principle the Council’s Committee will apply.

Section 71 — referral to a Professional Conduct Committee

An ethics concern is a conduct concern — a claim, the register, a boundary, a confidence — and is referred to a Professional Conduct Committee of two pharmacists and a lay member, which investigates independently and asks for your written response. Read it.

For this course: An ethics concern about a pharmacist — a dispensing decision, a confidence, a claim, a boundary at the counter — is referred here as conduct, and the course explains what the Committee will look at.

Section 100 — the grounds of discipline

The Tribunal may discipline for professional misconduct — malpractice or negligence, or conduct likely to bring discredit to the profession — and for a conviction or a breached condition. Dishonesty, theft of medicines and misleading public statements are among the pharmacy conduct found to reach it. Read it.

For this course: Dishonesty in claims or records, unsafe dispensing and a breach of confidentiality can each reach this threshold.

Section 101 — the penalties

Censure, conditions, suspension for up to three years, cancellation of registration, a fine of up to NZ$30,000 and costs. Insight, restitution and remediation are weighed every time, and an ethics course completed before the hearing is dated evidence of them. Read it.

For this course: The Tribunal’s penalty decisions about pharmacists weigh insight and the evidence of changed practice; the course is about producing both.

Also engaged: Section 118 — the Council sets the Code a complaint is measured against · Section 80 — what a Professional Conduct Committee may recommend, from counselling to a charge · Section 36 — a competence review where a pattern of decisions suggests a gap.

Not a pharmacist? New Zealand regulates 18 professions under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, and the process is the same for all — courses for every registered profession →

Frequently asked questions

What does the Council want in a response to an ethics complaint?

The reasoning: which principles were engaged, where they conflicted, which prevailed and why, whether the prescriber was queried, the effect, and what you would weigh differently now — with the principle of the Code named by you first.

Should someone read my response before I send it?

Yes. Your indemnity insurer, your professional body or a lawyer should see anything before it goes to the Council, a Committee, the Tribunal or your employer. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and no course determines the outcome of a matter.

Will the Pharmacy Council or a Professional Conduct Committee accept this course as remediation?

No provider is accredited by the Pharmacy Council, and no course decides a matter. What a Committee and the Tribunal weigh is dated, targeted remediation with reflection that engages the standard — and this course is written to the Code of Ethics 2018, principle by principle, so the connection is plain. Check the wording of any direction with your indemnity insurer, professional body or lawyer before you rely on it.

I supplied a medicine I had doubts about because the prescription was valid. Was that wrong?

A valid prescription is not the whole answer. The Council’s statements expect a pharmacist to query a prescription that looks wrong or a supply that looks unsafe, and to record the query and its outcome; the course’s section on high-risk supply is written for exactly this concern.

I made a dispensing error and corrected it. Do I have to tell the patient and the prescriber?

Yes, and an error followed by concealment is treated as graver than the error. The Code’s principle of honesty requires disclosure when care has caused or risked harm, and an incident record showing who was told and when is what a reviewer looks for.

The concern is about a claim to the funder. Is an ethics course the right one?

It is one of two. Probity has its own section here — claims, the register, records — and the Council treats a claim that does not match the dispensing as a matter of integrity whatever the explanation. The Professionalism course for pharmacists covers the same event from the conduct side; many pharmacists take both.

A customer is a mutual friend and asked about another patient’s medicine. Where is the line?

The line is the Code’s fourth principle and the Health Information Privacy Code, and it does not move because the town is small. Nothing about a patient’s medicines is shared with anyone not involved in their care, whatever the relationship.

Is a cultural safety lapse an ethics matter for pharmacists?

Yes. Promote equity and cultural safety is a principle of the Code and a Competence Standard. A complaint about whānau turned away from counselling or rongoā dismissed is read as an ethical failure, and remediation is expected to be Māori-led.

Can I refuse to supply emergency contraception or a medicine for assisted dying?

Yes, on grounds of conscience — provided you say so, the patient can obtain the supply elsewhere without delay, and you continue every other part of their care. Complaints arise when a patient is turned away without being told where to go.

How is this course different from the Professionalism course for pharmacists?

This course is about the reasoning behind a decision — supply and refusal, disclosure, confidentiality, commercial pressure, conscience. The Professionalism course is about conduct — communication at the counter, honesty in claims, boundaries, supervision of staff. A complaint that says a decision was wrong usually starts here.

How long does it take, and how long do I have access?

The course is 2 CPD hours, self-paced, with twelve months’ access from purchase. The certificate is issued on completion, dated, with the course title and the CPD hours, for your recertification, a competence programme or a response.

Notifications rarely raise one issue. These are the courses that pair with this one.

Professionalism and Professional Standards for Pharmacists

Professionalism course for NZ pharmacists facing a Pharmacy Council complaint or conduct committee. Written to the Code of Ethics 2018. 2 CPD hours.

2 CPD hours · NZ$200

Prescribing Guidance and Standards for Healthcare Professionals

A Council or Board notification about prescribing: for yourself or family, opioids, a dose or interaction, antibiotics, a repeat or telehealth. 2 CPD hours.

2 CPD hours · NZ$200

Financial Integrity for Healthcare Professionals

Financial integrity course for NZ health practitioners facing a billing, fee, ACC or third-party payer concern. Financial consent and conflicts. 2 CPD hrs.

2 CPD hours · NZ$200

Confidentiality in Healthcare Practice

Confidentiality and privacy course for NZ health practitioners facing a notification or privacy concern under the Health Information Privacy Code. 2 hours.

2 CPD hours · NZ$200

Documentation for Healthcare Professionals

Clinical documentation and health records course for NZ health practitioners facing a notification about records, late entries or amendments. 2 CPD hours.

2 CPD hours · NZ$200

Dealing with a Complaint or Investigation Professionally

Responding to a complaint, notification, competence review or conduct committee in NZ: the first letter, the meeting, what to write. 2 CPD hours.

2 CPD hours · NZ$200

Rebuilding Trust of Patients, Colleagues, the Public and the Regulator

After a notification, conditions or a Tribunal finding in NZ, what is assessed is what you did next: insight, remediation, evidence of change. 2 CPD hours.

2 CPD hours · NZ$200

Ethics and Ethical Standards for Pharmacists

This course. The supply decision and the refusal, autonomy, beneficence, justice and confidentiality, commercial pressure, and the remediation a Pharmacy Council recognises.

2 CPD hours · You are here

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