|
Jill McDonald, MSc, MRPharmS, is
pharmacy education and training manager at Milton Keynes General
NHS Trust. The Thames Valley Practice Educator Pharmacists Group
is a subgroup of the Thames Valley Chief Pharmacists Group.
Correspondence to:
Ms McDonald
e-mail jill.mcdonald@mkgeneral.nhs.uk
|
Before July 2006, Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority covered
- Buckinghamshire
Hospitals NHS Trust,
- Heatherwood & Wexham Park Hospitals
NHS Trust
- Milton Keynes General NHS Trust
- Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals
NHS Trust
- Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre
- Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation
Trust
- Oxford & Buckinghamshire Mental Health Partnership NHS
Trust
This
represents a diverse group of acute hospitals and a correspondingly diverse
group of pharmacy departments. Within the Thames Valley boundary there
was, until September 2005, no school of pharmacy and no funded regional
support structure for pharmacy education and training.
This article describes how Thames Valley SHA addressed the issues of
supporting the continued demands of the NHS and the ever increasing training
needs of their pharmacy staff, particularly preregistration trainees.
In 2002 some of the Thames Valley hospitals, like those across Britain,
had concerns about the impact of the “fallow year” for pharmacy
graduates and wondered whether they would be able to sustain their commitments
to training alongside service delivery. A business case was written by
the chief pharmacists and Thames Valley SHA began to take a closer interest
in the issues around pharmacy education and training, and in particular
preregistration training.
Following a successful pilot project, the SHA
undertook a contract review process and decided to fund posts for practice
educator pharmacists (PEPs) within each acute hospital trust based
on models used in other health care professions, such as nursing and
radiography.
In funding these posts the SHA aimed to ensure the development of a
positive learning environment within every hospital pharmacy department,
leading
to high quality and equitable training for all preregistration trainees
within Thames Valley.
PEPs are practising hospital pharmacists who spend a significant amount
of their time dealing with education and training issues. In part their
dual role as both practitioners and educators is key to their success.
As educators, PEPs are heavily involved in the day-to-day training
of preregistration trainees and provide an extra level of support above
that supplied by preregistration tutors alone. This support may be
hands-on
training and assessment within the hospital, participation in formal
teaching as part of the regional preregistration training programme
or training of pharmacy staff to ensure they have the appropriate skills
to train other staff.
In addition to their responsibilities for pre-registration
training, PEPs have varying roles in facilitating the education and
training
of other pharmacy staff. This may be through involvement in the delivery
of postgraduate diplomas in clinical pharmacy and pharmacy practice
for registered pharmacists, organisation of NVQ training for pharmacy
assistants
and pharmacy technicians, planning and delivering local education
and training programmes to meet the needs of all levels of pharmacy staff
and facilitating continuing professional development for pharmacists
and pharmacy technicians. In short, PEPs are fundamental to ensuring
a positive learning culture for everyone working within the pharmacy
department. Achievements of PEPs
Initially the work of the PEPs focused on the development of the regional
preregistration training programme. Although there has long been a
regional preregistration training co-ordinator, there has been no formalised
education and training structure across Thames Valley and therefore
the development of the PEP role saw the creation of a ready made “team” to
develop the programme. Particular achievements include: • Creation of an improved learning environment for preregistration trainees
and other pharmacy staff
• Development of standardised workbooks for preregistration trainees
to use in their base hospitals, including dispensary services, clinical
services and quality assurance
• Support for the regional preregistration training co-ordinator in the
delivery of the regional preregistration training programme, with PEPs
routinely teaching and facilitating workshops and other teaching sessions
• Development and piloting of a peer review tool for preregistration
tutors and PEPs providing the opportunity for annual review of progress
in relation to preregistration training with colleagues
• Design and implementation of a primary care study day to allow preregistration
trainees to learn about the key interface issues from the experts in
primary care
• Implementation of a cross sector study day to allow preregistration
trainees from hospital and community practice to meet and learn from
each other
• Improved assessment and evaluation as part of the regional preregistration
training programme
• Completion of a continuing professional development survey among all
hospital pharmacists across Thames Valley leading to recommendations
made to the Thames Valley Pharmacy Learning and Development Strategy
Steering Group
• Participation in the Thames Valley Learning and Development Strategy
Steering Group and collaboration in the development of its strategy
• Establishment of a supportive network among PEPs and the provision
of support to preregistration trainees across Thames Valley in the event
of their tutors or PEPs being absent
The role of the PEP has been successful in developing education and
training, and in particular preregistration training. Future work areas
are highlighted in the Panel (below).
Work areas planned
• Implementation of the Thames Valley Pharmacy Learning and Development
Strategy to further aid the development of education and training
opportunities available to all hospital pharmacy staff across
the SHA
• Continued development of the regional preregistration training
programme with particular focus on making the Thames Valley more
attractive to potential applicants through opens days and promotion
• Full implementation of the recommendations of the work already
done on continuing professional development and collaboration
with technician trainers to extend this work to pharmacy technicians
following
registration
• Improved evaluation of the provision of education and training
to ensure the maintenance of a high quality of service for our
service users
• Evaluation and promotion of the role of PEPs and identification
of the benefits of a similar role for support staff |
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal