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· COX-2s
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· Other professions
· Prescription charges
· CPD
· Fitness to practise
Letters to the Editor
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Continuing professional development (CPD)
Where is the Society’s guidance?
From Mrs M. V. Taylor, MRPharmS
I am sure that the majority of pharmacists know that continuing professional
development is mandatory. However, what we do not have is specific guidance.
I now understand, through attendance at various meetings, that the Royal
Pharmaceutical Society expects us to have recorded 12 CPD episodes, of
which nine should start at “reflection”. Is this correct
and is this guidance or is it mandatory?
I understand that a number of CPD facilitators were appointed by the
Society. Are these people still available for advice and support and
have they been trained to help pharmacists?
What I would appreciate is clear guidance on what is expected of me regarding
CPD and the sooner this is given, the better able committed pharmacists
will be to meet the defined criteria. Perhaps this could be a next step
for the education division at the Society.
I am also concerned about the process that will be adopted by the Society
when it begins to monitor pharmacists’ CPD. I believe it is important
that this process is transparent and all pharmacists understand what
is expected of them regarding CPD, what they need to do to meet these
expectations and how adherence to CPD requirements will be monitored.
I think that if individual pharmacists are not aware of the above, the Society
will leave itself open to challenge.
Vanessa Taylor
Eastbourne, East Sussex
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PETER WILSON, head of post-registration, Royal Pharmaceutical Society,
responds:
The requirement to keep continuing professional development
records is a professional obligation for all practising pharmacists.
Guidance on good CPD practice and the criteria that the Society will
use for reviewing
pharmacists’ CPD records has been published in the “Plan
and record” document. That was sent to all practising pharmacists
and is available on the Society’s web site. This is the current
position and our guidance is that the average for record keeping is
about one
record per month. The figure comes from the initial CPD pilots with
500 pharmacists,
although we recognise that all pharmacists could make significantly
more records than this if they record every learning experience.
The professional requirement for CPD recording will become a legal
requirement when the Section 60 order takes effect. We expect this
will be during 2006 but
it is impossible to be definite about the date since the Order is already
significantly later than expected. Implementation of the Order will
require an explicit set
of rules and standards. These will be published for consultation and members
will be able to have their say on standards such as the number and type of
records. When we have confirmation of the rules we will be able to
communicate with members
on expectations and the record review and feedback process. It would be premature
to start that now although I agree that the more notice we can give the better.
Although we are not yet in a position to clarify the requirements in the
rules, the Society has been making more information and support available
to members.
CPD facilitators form part of the support package and they work specifically
with pharmacists in local branches. They have been trained to use a purpose-designed
toolkit of workshops that concentrate on all stages of CPD from initial understanding
through recording to peer review of CPD records. The facilitators will be
available during 2006. |
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal