The pharmaceutical company Wyeth is offering bursaries to help hospital pharmacists meet the cost of studying for an Aston university diploma in hospital pharmacy management (see pA26).
The diploma is a two-year course for hospital pharmacists at grade D and above. It comprises modules on managing people, developing and providing services, planning and implementation, achieving success through teamwork and strategic planning and implementation (Hospital Pharmacist, June, 1999, p173-5).
Mr David Hood (postgraduate education and meetings manager, Wyeth) told The Journal on November 16 that he had become concerned that the course was likely to be denied to pharmacists outside the West Midlands because of difficulties with funding training for hospital pharmacists in National Health Service trusts.
Mr Surinder Bassan (chief pharmacist, George Eliot hospital, Nuneaton) said that successful applicants were likely to be those who already had a proven track record as clinical pharmacists. The never ending changes in the NHS required the managers and leaders of the future to be well trained and equipped with the latest ideas, practices and skills. This course did just that for pharmacists. In the West Midlands, an educational fund for senior pharmacists, which drew funding from a variety of sources, such as charitable funds, hospital trust training funds, student contributions and grants from Astrazeneca, had been established in 1997. He now hoped that Wyeth's example would encourage other companies to invest in pharmacy education. Medical and nursing staff in the NHS took most of the limited NHS training funds and left little for others, especially pharmacists.
Enrolment is now taking place for the course commencing January, 2000. Potential students can contact Mr Bassan on 01203 865086, or the course tutor, Ms Wendy Thomas on 020 8892 2743.