Clinical diplomas under threat following Government cuts
Funding for postgraduate pharmacy qualifications, such as the diploma in clinical pharmacy, has been threatened by a Government cost-cutting initiative.
Last year, the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS)
directed the Higher Education Funding
Council for England (HEFCE) to
phase out state funding for equal or lower qualifications. Consequently,
individuals who have completed a master’s degree, such as pharmacy,
would not receive funding for further study if the second qualification
was equal to or lower than masters level.
Chris Cutts, director of the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education,
pointed out that such postgraduate courses are currently subsidised by
the HEFCE, with the rest funded by NHS trusts or strategic health authorities.
“Trusts
will have to pay at least double or triple what they pay now to fund
pharmacists to do these courses,” he said. “This has not
been budgeted for, so it is likely that they will only be able to fund
half the number of places usually offered. If student numbers drop, some
of the courses could fold.”
HEFCE undertook a consultation and published its final
report in April 2008. It concluded that several courses should be
exempt from the new arrangement, such as medicine, nursing, dentistry
and veterinary science.
However,
pharmacy was a noted omission.
Anthony Smith, principal and dean, University of London School of Pharmacy,
told Hospital Pharmacist: “This means that courses will either
not be offered at all or fees will have to be much greater to make up
the shortfall in funding. The policy makes no sense at all and runs completely
counter to the Department of Health’s vision for pharmacy outlined
in April’s White Paper. The two departments must start talking
to each other rather than DIUS and HEFCE damaging professional development
for the entire profession.”
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has written to David Eastwood, the chief
executive of HEFCE, to request that pharmacy be granted exemption along
with other essential healthcare professional qualifications. The Society
was awaiting a response as Hospital Pharmacist went to press.
Geoff Layer, pro-vice-chancellor for learning and teaching at the University
of Bradford, commented: “The changes in funding for equivalent
or lower qualifications have been hastily introduced without proper and
full consultation. We are working to keep up with the latest developments
and striving to ensure that we protect students as far as possible from
these last minute changes.”
The new regulations will be put in place in time for all academic courses
that start during the 2008-09 academic year. The initiative is intended
to save the Government £100m. HEFCE’s report can be accessed
online |
Hospital
Pharmacist