The vision for national programmes of clinical training Drivers for national programmes of clinical training
The national workforce strategies of recent years are beginning to achieve success, including nationally recognised developmental frameworks, the formation of the RPS Faculty, national Foundation programmes and accredited Foundation Schools, professional knowledge base (curricula) development, and RPS accreditation processes. The next stage is to develop formalised training programmes for specialty development and formal structures for education and development for career planning.
There are several drivers and strategic imperatives for this concept:
There is currently no defined career progression or development pathways for clinical pharmacy specialists or advanced generalists in the UK
A key strategy for the RPS is to provide a roadmap of quality assured education, training and development opportunities, mapped to the RPS career stages, from Foundation to Faculty, through accredited provider models
As an affiliated partner of the RPS, the UKCPA have agreed to develop such programmes alongside other affiliated partners
As an accredited training provider for the RPS and Foundation and Faculty programmes, the UKCPA will be best placed to provide such pathways.
Such programmes would remove the existing informal and opportunistic approach to specialty training and career progression and replace this with a structured, accredited, quality assured specialty training provision for clinical and non-clinical specialties in pharmacy practice.
Embarking on or completing a national training programme would become attractive to employers who would have an evidence-based candidate portfolio for job applications and specifications.
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Additionally, whereas Faculty staging indicates level of advancement, participation in or completion of a national training programme provides an indication of area of expertise, including generalism.
The vision
Patients’ needs are often complex and require practitioners to understand those needs holistically, within the context of their lives and with specialist knowledge where appropriate.
Services need access to clinical pharmacy practitioners who have a broad base of knowledge and those who have specialist knowledge.
Employers need to be able to recognise and trust the competence of their pharmacy workforce and to accurately identify the workforce needed to deliver their services. This can be achieved through providing evidence of quality assured training and experiences, and professionally recognised level, scope of practice and areas of expertise of their current and future employees.
Practitioners need to have access to programmes of education, training and development opportunities, regardless of geography, sector or level of practice. Foundation and core advanced knowledge must be the basis of specialist practice in order to enable flexibility in career planning, service delivery and complex patient care. Practitioners will need to take responsibility for their own professional development.
Cultural change is needed to ensure that practitioners take responsibility for their own professional development, and that this is supported by employers and organisations providing development opportunities.
Key features of a national training programme
The structure for a national training programme will run through foundation and advanced levels of career development up to Consultant level, with milestones aligned with foundation and faculty. It
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will have clearly described assessments and credentials at these milestones, and have clear mapping to foundation, core advanced, and specialist professional knowledge bases (curricula).
Clinically oriented The training programmes will capture knowledge, skills and behaviours through training events (knowledge and skills) and practice experience (skills and behaviours). The programmes will be clinically oriented with a topic, subject or speciality focus. They will exist in conjunction with the Advanced Pharmacy Framework (APF), the latter covering generic advancement in working relationships, management, leadership, research and evaluation, and teaching and learning.
Practitioners can gain experience in multiple areas, leading to advanced generalism, or can follow a more defined career path towards a specialist career.
A blended learning approach will be applied, with reading and/or web-based contact before and after a face-to-face training event. A training event will focus on the clinical application of knowledge and pre-learning will ensure more time for discussion and application of learning. For the practice experience element, Local Trusts and employers will provide accredited training placements, with a quality assurance and training specification.
The training programmes will be relevant and appropriate for all sectors. The bulk of the profession are working within the scope of advanced generalism and a broad scope of knowledge is essential in order to deliver community and primary care services. Additionally, practitioners working in the hospital sector must maintain their broad knowledge as well as their specialist knowledge in order to deliver seven-day services.
Mapped to Advanced Pharmacy Framework (APF) and knowledge bases (curricula) Training events will be mapped to the APF, Core Advanced knowledge base and, where appropriate, relevant specialist knowledge bases. The majority of training events will have general applicability; that is, based on the Core Advanced knowledge base. Advanced modules will be based on, and mapped to, specialist knowledge bases (see Figure 1). Training will be pitched at defined and recognisable levels, such as foundation, intermediate and advanced.
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Figure 1: Foundation, specialist and core advanced knowledge
Owned and managed by UKCPA The programmes will be owned and managed by UKCPA. Specialist practitioners drawn from the UKCPA specialist groups and wider membership will develop the structure and content of each element of the programme and will deliver the training directly to practitioners.
Assessments provided by UKCPA Relevant assessments at pivotal stages of the programme will be developed and provided by the UKCPA. These will assess the knowledge, skills and behaviours learnt through training events and work experiences.
Certification by an accredited training provider Credits or certificates will be provided by the UKCPA to practitioners who have completed assessments linked to each element of the programme. Accredited by the RPS, the UKCPA is a quality assured training provider. Accreditation provides assurance of the quality of both content and tutors delivering the programme. Acquiring cumulative and relevant credits will eventually lead to the completion of a national training programme (see Figure 2).
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Figure 2: Matrix and provisional exemplar of a career pathway towards a Consultant/Highly specialist cardiology pharmacist. National Training Programme Matrix and Provisional Examplar
Consultant / Highly specialist
Expert / Career grades / AS I and AS II credentialing of continued education Cardio Module C
Renal Module A Webinar Workshop Conference Assessment etc.
Infection Module A Webinar Workshop Conference Assessment etc.
Cardio Module A
Conference Assessment Portfolio review Assessment etc.
Cardio Module B Webinar Workshop Portfolio review Assessment etc.
Gastro Module A Webinar Workshop Conference Assessment etc.
Cardio Module C
Cardio Module B Webinar Workshop Portfolio review Assessment etc.
Cardio Module A Webinar Workshop Conference Assessment etc.
Renal Module A
Conference Assessment Portfolio review Assessment etc.
Infection Module A Webinar Workshop Conference Assessment etc.
Renal Module B Webinar Workshop Portfolio review Assessment etc.
Cardio Module C
Cardio Module B Webinar Workshop Portfolio review Assessment etc.
Gastro Module A Webinar Workshop Conference Assessment etc.
Paediatrics Module A
Webinar Workshop Conference Assessment etc.
Webinar Workshop Conference Assessment etc.
Webinar Workshop Conference Assessment etc.
Career Route map 1
Career Route map 2
Career Route map 3
Conference Assessment Portfolio review Assessment etc.
Cardio Module A Webinar Workshop Conference Assessment etc.
Renal Module A Webinar Workshop Conference Assessment etc.
Post-foundation
Accredited by RPS The RPS Faculty will recognise the overall practice stage at which one is practicing in any area, and movement through the programme elements will clearly be complementary to career development using the APF. Completion of the national training programme (or elements thereof) can contribute towards this Faculty development.
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