What’s included in this learning and development programme?
The Consultation skills for pharmacy practice working group have worked together to establish:
- a set of practice standards for consultation skills in pharmacy, which outline the competencies that pharmacy professionals need to achieve in order to conduct effective patient consultations and public health interventions. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society and Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK are carrying out a wider review of professional development frameworks in pharmacy. This consultation skills programme will link in with these frameworks.
- a learning pathway, which individual pharmacy professionals can follow to develop the consultation skills they need
- a range of training formats, for example, face-to-face learning, e-learning and printed workbooks. A variety of resources is available for learners, as well as for those who want to deliver learning, such as employers and local training organisations.
- an assessment framework - pharmacy professionals are encouraged to work through a self-assessment process using a structured and validated self-assessment tool to identify their learning needs. Support and feedback from peers and colleagues is also encouraged. We have also developed an e-assessment for you to check your learning.
Patient consultations are one of the key vehicles through which medicines optimisation and public health can be delivered. By clicking on the Context and policy link above you can learn more about the medicines and public health agendas and their importance to the pharmacy profession, as well as the policy and context that has led to the development of this national learning and development programme.
The Consultation skills for pharmacy practice working group was established by the Modernising Pharmacy Careers Board and transferred to Health Education England in April, 2013. The group is chaired jointly by Professor Christopher Cutts, director of the Centre for Postgraduate Education (CPPE) and Clare Howard, deputy chief pharmaceutical officer, NHS England.
Click here to see the working group members.