The Postgraduate Diploma in General Pharmacy Practice
The safe and effective use of medicines within both primary and secondary care is paramount for effective acute and chronic disease management. Pharmacists have a clear role to play in medicines management and the prescribing agenda, which necessarily means a modern and effective post-registration training programme.
This novel programme is a progressive approach to practitioner development and ensure that pharmacists acquire the competencies needed to practice in a safe and effective way. This programme links to Agenda for Change and the relevant Knowledge and Skills Framework so that individuals are supported to achieve the relevant gateway competencies.
The curriculum will develop pharmacists who are able to practice at a general level, and consequently embrace clinical, technical, medicines information and patient service elements. The curriculum fundamentally contributes to the practitioner development strategy, as described in the bibliography and the key documents listed in the bibliography.
The aim of the Postgraduate Diploma in General Pharmacy Practice (DipGPP) is to equip practitioners with the core skills and competencies they require to provide pharmaceutical care in a practice setting. The course works on a philosophy of student centred workplace learning.
The ethos and culture of the course is to enhance and develop self reliance and an adult
approach to learning in support of continuing professional development.
However, the curriculum will develop the foundations of specialism in practitioners as they progress towards the award of DipGPP
Preliminary Analysis
A preliminary analysis of DipGPP students' attitudes towards their post-registration development was carried out in July 2006. Comparisons were also made with a matched cohort of practitioners on an existing traditional taught postgraduate course.
How is the joint Diploma be delivered?
The curriculum is delivered through a consortium of higher education institutions (HEIs) working in collaboration with NHS specialist pharmacy services.
Local and Institutional delivery
The majority of the clinical and practitioner based skills learning are work-based, building on the current system of mentoring and facilitation. A lead pharmacy tutor will be nominated for the organisation who will take responsibility for coordinating practitioner development as individuals progress through the award. This mirrors and recognises current roles, but with enhanced impact as part of a more formal strategic approach to practitioner development.
The Consortium is responsible for the provision of open access study days and academic support. The HEIs also monitor the accreditation of training sites and local tutors, and are responsible for learning design and quality assurance of the assessments associated with the programme. The Consortium develops and maintains e-learning systems to support practitioner development throughout the learning programme. Thematic study modules and the management of personal development come under the general heading of academic support provided by the HEIs.
Assessment methods
The learning outcomes associated with this programme are driven by the competency agenda, and focus on providing a robust and credible outcome for practitioners and employers. The Consortium has considerable experience of using methods such as adapted OSCE style assessments, which are known to provide strong indicators of practitioner performance within practice-based programmes. The joint award also takes advantage of modern IT systems for the management and provision of remote-MCQ and novel assessment techniques.
Syllabus themes
The overall aim of the JPB is to support the development of pharmacy practitioners who have an assured competence to practice in primary and secondary care. Although it is anticipated that a pharmacist undertaking this programme will normally take 3 years to complete the programme, the flexibility inherent within the system, and the competency based approach, will allow individuals to progress at different rates. Progress is guided through the use of personal learning plans (such as a Record of In-service Training and Assessment) agreed between the student practitioners and their practice tutor.
There are four main themes which comprise the programme curriculum:
1. Practitioner Development
A core concept of this theme is to develop the practitioner as a learner, within the context of health care delivery. This will require the practitioner to understand the impact of NHS policy on the delivery of health and social care and understand different models for delivering pharmaceutical care.
2. Clinical governance and risk
This theme emphasises an awareness of patient-centred care and systems of quality assurance, such as clinical governance, national clinical guidelines and clinical audit. Patient health and safety issues are central to this theme, together with risk assessment and management strategies to allow pharmacists to deliver safe and effective care.
3. Applied Therapeutics
The student practitioner will experience, or be familiar with, the pharmaceutical care of a wide range of patients within the pharmacist’s area of practice. Student practitioners will be expected to understand the basic management of these patients.
4. Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences
This aims to integrate the underpinning pharmaceutical science to support the applied therapeutics theme. Student practitioners will be able to identify and manage drug-related patient care issues through the application of pharmaceutical science. For example, student practitioners will be able to understand and apply pharmaceutical science in the areas of patient care related to laboratory biochemistry, fluid and electrolyte balance, clinical pharmacology, adverse drug events and formulation.
Placements
The placements offered by Training Centres will embrace a range of pharmacy practice settings, for example:-
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Programme Structure
The programme is structured around 4 modules:
Module 1: Foundations of General Practice
Modules 2, 3 and 4: Defined areas of practice (practice placements)
The core module (Module 1) is taken during the first 18 months of the programme and, on successful completion, allow the student practitioner to undertake a series of practice placements or defined areas of practice.
This programme offers the practitioner an opportunity to gain experience in different specialist areas of care, covering the breadth of pharmacy practice. These practice placements require the individual to work as part of a team in order to build on the core knowledge and skills attained during the core modular components of the programme. Key attributes essential to improving the safe and effective use of medicines will focus on:
Critical appraisal Skills
Developing a prescribing audit “tool kit”
Developing strategic thinking by applying a range of change management tools.
Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL)
Interim arrangements for "mapping" practitioners onto the PG Dip GPP at the 18 month point are currently available. This is intended for the practitioners with relevant pharmacy experience equivalent to the first 18 month learning outcomes of the diploma, in particular, for those who have completed some kind of accredited qualification, such as the School of Pharmacy Certificate. For further details of the APEL process, including eligibility, portfolio of evidence requirements and interview, please click here or contact Tim Rennie.
