The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is to distribute a total of about £70,000 to successful applicants for its professional development awards. Seventy-eight applications have been received in response to the offer of awards to assist in developing professional services locally (PJ, November 6, 1999, p742). Of the total, 32 of the bids are for lower level awards and 46 are for higher level awards.
At the lower level, awards of up to £500 are to be made to assist with establishing effective pharmacy development groups (PDGs). At the higher level, awards of up to £3,000 will be made to support PDG activities designed to extend the influence of pharmacy locally. The numbers of awards to be made in the two categories has not been fixed but will depend on the quality of the applications.
The Society's national co-ordinator for the "Building the future" stage of Pharmacy in a New Age, Mrs Anne Adams, who is administering the award scheme, says that an adjudicating panel is to meet in March to consider the applications. The panel will give priority to applications that include aspects of clinical governance, audit and evidence-based practice, or which seek to gather such evidence, with the aim of developing the profession and the services it offers. Proposals will only be considered if they contain measurable performance criteria.
PDGs are groups of pharmacists established to develop the profession locally, harnessing the enthusiasm and expertise of pharmacists in all areas of practice to take the profession forward within a health authority area or primary care group boundary. PDGs co-operate with local pharmaceutical committees to respond to strategy documents, to work up bids for new and extended services and to achieve the integration of pharmacy into local strategies.
Because of national variations in the local structure of the National Health Service, PDGs are generally found only in England, However, the awards were also open to equivalent initiatives in Wales. The Society is looking into ways in which it might be able to support professional development in Scotland.