The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7191 p419-425
30 March 2002

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College of Pharmacy Practice (www.collpharm.org.uk)

Paediatric pharmacy faculty launched

Earlier this week, the Faculty of Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacy was launched — as a result of collaboration between the College of Pharmacy Practice and the Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacists' Group.

The purpose of the new faculty is to support members so that they can be offered access to education, training and accreditation in neonatal and paediatric pharmacy and to provide a framework for continuing professional development. The new faculty follows the launch of the first CPP faculty of prescribing and medicines management) this time last year.

Steve Tomlin, principal paediatric clinical pharmacist at the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust, who was elected chairman of the faculty board after the launch, said that individuals working in all specialist branches of pharmacy need to demonstrate that they are undertaking continuing professional development. "Staff must be shown to be competent."

This was particularly important for paediatric pharmacy, emphasised Ian Costello from Birmingham Children's Hospital, because there was so little evidence to help pharmacists choose the most appropriate treatment: "As much as 60 per cent of medicines prescribed for children are unlicensed, and there are many formulations that are unsuitable, for example those containing alcohol cannot be given to neonates." Mr Costello went on to say that there are pockets of good practice and pharmacy services in parts of the country, all pharmacists providing services to children should provide the same standard of care.

Sharon Conroy, chairman of the NPPG from Derbyshire Children's Hospital said: "We need to continue to pursue excellence in the pharmaceutical care of paediatric patients."