The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7505 p699
7 June 2008

Society summary

These reports are of debates at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s branch representatives’ meeting on 22 May 2008.
Further reports

BRM backs training for all pharmacy support staff

The branch representatives’ meeting rejected a motion seeking to exempt science students in full-time education from the requirement to undertake a Scottish/National Vocational Training course while working part-time or during vacation in a pharmacy.

Proposing the motion, Alan Hughes (Clwyd) said that pharmacies face restraints on recruiting Saturday staff because the Society requires all support staff to undertake S/NVQ level 2 regardless of the hours worked. Pharmacy students who have started their MPharm course are exempt, but the branch wanted the exemption to be extended to include sixth formers.

David Morgan (Clwyd), seconding, said that the NHS was less efficient now than at the beginning of his career because of the bureaucracy that has to be put up with on a day-to-day basis. One example was S/NVQ2 training for sixth-formers working on Saturdays or in vacations. Since they will not be working for more than three years, they cannot even complete the training.

Angela Alexander (Slough), opposing the motion, said that she did not agree with the current exemptions, let alone want them extended. Working in a pharmacy was not like shelf-stacking in a supermarket.

All pharmacy staff had responsibilities to the customer. They needed an understanding, and they gained it from the NVQ.

She worked on a Saturday in a pharmacy that employed a lot of school students, and most were keen to undertake the NVQ work. It could be done by distance learning, and Saturday’s slow prescription flow allowed time to tutor them.

She urged the meeting to vote against the motion.

Gordon Dykes (Glasgow and West of Scotland) said that he, too, was fed up with bureaucracy and often despaired that the S/NVQs were an evidence-gathering exercise that proved nothing.

However, training improved students’ ability to serve the public and provided a qualification they might be able to use later.

Training also engaged the pharmacist with the student in a structured way and helped build teamwork. And students who normally only worked Saturday mornings might become the background of a pharmacy’s summer coverage.

They should have training.