RPS

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society - Foundation Practice Framework

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) represents and supports pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists across all sectors of practice. The RPS takes the lead in setting standards for post-registration professional education, helping to develop a workforce that is capable, adaptable and confident to lead.

We want to help pharmacists to be the best they can be when speaking and consulting with patients and people about their medicines and lifestyle choices. One of the ways we support you is by providing two frameworks to help guide your professional development – one at foundation level and another as you advance your professional practice.

The Foundation Pharmacy Framework (FPF) helps you to identify progress and signposts where to go next in your development by: defining gaps in knowledge and skills; monitoring progress and development; identifying training and development needs, and facilitating continuing professional development.

This framework is aimed at pharmacists who are newly qualified, as well as those who are established in practice but have never used a training framework, or who may be changing sectors or returning to work after a gap in their career. The framework helps you to consolidate your learning and to determine where to take your career next. Individual practitioners can use the framework, as well as education and training providers, employers and commissioners.

The FPF comprises four clusters:

1. The patient and pharmaceutical care
2. Professional practice
3. Personal practice
4. Management and organisation

The patient and pharmaceutical care cluster incorporates a competency relating to consultation skills, which links directly to the Consultation skills for pharmacy practice learning and development programme.

RPS Faculty

The FPF supports pharmacists in moving towards Faculty membership, using the foundation framework to ensure they are demonstrating competence with essential skills, before moving on to demonstrate their advanced stage of practice to gain entry to the Faculty. The Faculty enables pharmacists to access the first profession-wide professional recognition programme for pharmacy and to attain post-nominals that will be recognised by colleagues, healthcare professionals, patients and the public, as demonstrating an advanced level of practice.

The Faculty portfolio is based on the Advanced Pharmacy Framework (APF) which focuses on professional development and advancement of practice. Within the APF there are clusters covering:

• expert professional practice
• collaborative working relationships
• leadership
• management
• education, training and development
• research and evaluation

These two professional development frameworks help to support pharmacists with the Consultation skills for pharmacy practice learning and development programme, ensuring all its members regardless of sector, at whatever stage of practice, has the right skills, behaviours and training, to support the delivery of excellent healthcare and health improvement.