Public health training places open to pharmacists
Pharmacists in the north west of England will be among the first to benefit from “Choosing health” monies, according to Liz Stafford, national primary care liaison manager at Rowlands Pharmacy and a member of the North West Pharmacy Workforce Development Group. Resources have
been allocated to train 2,211 public health practitioners in the region
and 1,150 of these places have been reserved for community pharmacists.
The other places will go to school nurses, practice nurses, graduate
mental health workers, Sure Start managers and others who spend a substantial
part of their working lives furthering public health.
The training will consist of a three-day
intervention/behavioural change programme, which will be assessed. The
programme will underpin future enhanced services under the community
pharmacy contract and will link to e-learning modules covering six priority
areas: smoking, cancer, coronary heart disease, mental health, alcohol
and obesity. Ms Stafford will be working with the project manager to
identify people suitable for the training, which will be commissioned
by the strategic health authority. “When the project manager is
appointed there will be some train the trainer days. Local trainers will
then cascade the training to community pharmacists, nurses and others,” she
explained.
However, Ms Stafford emphasised that it is not just a question of training. “If
community pharmacists engage with this then it integrates them right
from the beginning in workforce planning. Hopefully, this will provide
a platform and an opportunity to develop enhanced services in public
health.” Ms Stafford believes that the training will help to develop
new local relationships and increase pharmacists’ skills and their
capacity to add more value to local clinical networks. “It is vital
that we respond and take up the available places to demonstrate what
pharmacists can do to improve health inequalities in the community,” she
said.
The funding has been allocated to the Association of Greater Manchester
Primary Care Trusts, a public health network that comprises 10 PCTs.
The funding is for the Greater Manchester public health framework, which
incorporates 16 related projects. One of these projects is to develop
the workforce in order to build the required capacity and leadership
to deliver public health measures. The public health practitioner training
is part of that strand.
Community pharmacists and leads for multiples who work in the PCTs covered
by the association, and who are interested in accessing the training,
should contact their local pharmaceutical committee or Ms Stafford at
lstafford@rowlandspharmacy.co.uk |
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