| · Adherence
· Medicines waste
· Community pharmacy
· Brand names
· Tuberculosis
· CPD
· Counterfeit medicines
· Geography
Letters to the Editor
|
CPD
Missing the point of CPD completely
From Mr P. J. Curphey, FRPharmS
I was astonished (not really, just incredulous) at the letter from Sultan
Dajani, an elected member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s
Council (PJ, 9 October, p516).
To suggest that the complexity of one’s job dictates the complexity
of one’s continuing professional development misses the point completely.
Certainly keeping up to date is demanding and more continuing education
may be required, but in terms of personal professional development the
process is exactly the same. Has Mr Dajani learnt nothing from his time
on the Council?
The process requires a reflective period to search out ways of self-development
and an audit process to ensure that it is working and that you have correctly
identified the shortfall. None of that negates the need to keep up to
date in CE terms, which is an ethical requirement anyway.
My real concern is that there may be those who are beguiled by this lack
of understanding and who believe that it is possible to have part-time
pharmacists with part-time competence.
There may be those who believe that a locum pharmacist working one day
a week can be different from a full-time pharmacist. Can you imagine
patients being happy with that thought?
What an insult, too, to locums, to suggest that they only have to “dispense
within standard operating procedures”. Where are these dangerous
pharmacists? Help us all to steer clear of them!
I despair that people should think this way. No wonder the Pharmaceutical
Services Negotiating Committee and others find it so hard to negotiate
with our paymasters. Our own Council members are prepared to minimise
the pharmacist’s key role.
If this is an attempt to engage those who are concerned about the recent
rise in fees then I hope it has failed.
I have some sympathy with those for whom the increases are large, but
their CPD identification, monitoring and support is the same for everyone,
part-time or full-time, overseas or based in Britain.
Maybe in Mr Dajani’s part of the world locums are simply warm and
breathing — there to satisfy the law. But in the real world top
class locums are working their socks off and certainly my locums keep
me on the straight and narrow both in professional and best practice
terms.
They would be the last people to suggest that their CPD needs are any
different from mine although they might both agree my CE needs brushing
up.
How demoralising to realise that there are Council members who really
do not understand their profession or who, after all the wrangling, have
no concept of the new regulation agenda nor how times have changed.
Peter Curphey
Ballaugh Glen,
Isle of Man
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal