The Nuffield legacy:twenty years of social science influence on pharmacy practice research

Guest editorial

A European competence framework for industrial pharmacy practice in biotechnology

Project Report: The PHAR-IN ("Competences for industrial pharmacy practice in biotechnology") looked at whether there is a difference in how industrial employees and academics rank competences for practice in the biotechnological industry. A small expert panel consisting of the authors of this paper produced a biotechnology competence framework by drawing up an initial list of competences then ranking them in importance using a three-stage Delphi process. The framework was next evaluated and validated by a large expert panel of academics (n = 37) and industrial employees (n = 154). Results show that priorities for industrial employees and academics were similar. The competences for biotechnology practice that received the highest scores were mainly in: . "Research and Development", . "Upstream" and "Downstream" Processing', " . "Product development and formulation", " . "Aseptic processing", ."Analytical methodology", . "Product stability", and . "Regulation". The main area of disagreement was in the category "Ethics and drug safety" where academics ranked competences higher than did industrial employees.

The production of a framework of competences for pharmacy practice in the European Union:the PHAR-QA project

Background and objectives: The goal of the PHAR-QA (Qualityassurance in European pharmacy education and training) project isthe production of a European framework of competences for pharmacypractice. This PHAR-QA framework (www.phar-qa.eu) will beEuropean and consultative i.e. it will be used for harmonization—butwill not to replace existing national QA systems.Methods: Using the proposals for competences produced by the previousPHARMINE(Pharmacy education in Europe; www.pharmine.eu) project, together with those of other sources, the authors produced a listof 68 personal and patient care competencies. Using internet surveytools the stakeholders—European pharmacy community (universitydepartment staff and students, community, hospital and industrialpharmacists, as well as pharmacists working in clinical biology andother branches, together with representatives of chambers and associations)—were invited to rank the proposals and add comments.Results and conclusions: Pharmacology and pharmacotherapy togetherwith competences such as ‘‘supply of appropriate medicinestaking into account dose, correct formulation, concentration, administrationroute and timing’’ ranked high. Other topics such as ‘‘currentknowledge of design, synthesis, isolation, characterisation and biologicalevaluation of active substances’’ ranked lower.Implications for practice: In the short term, it is anticipated that thissurvey will stimulate a productive discussion on pharmacy educationand practice by the various stakeholders. In the long term, thisframework could serve as a European model framework of competencesfor pharmacy practice.Acknowledgements: With the support of the Lifelong Learningprogramme of the European Union: 527194-LLP-1-2012-1-BEERASMUS-EMCR. This publication reflects the views only of theauthors; the Commission cannot be held responsible for any usewhich may be made of the information contained therein.

Does the subject content of the pharmacy degree course influence the community pharmacist’s views on competencies for practice?

Do community pharmacists coming from different educational backgrounds rank the importance of competences for practice differently-or is the way in which they see their profession more influenced by practice than university education? A survey was carried out on 68 competences for pharmacy practice in seven countries with different pharmacy education systems in terms of the relative importance of the subject areas chemical and medicinal sciences. Community pharmacists were asked to rank the competences in terms of relative importance for practice; competences were divided into personal and patient-care competences. The ranking was very similar in the seven countries suggesting that evaluation of competences for practice is based more on professional experience than on prior university education. There were some differences for instance in research-related competences and these may be influenced, by education.

Dispensing activity in a community pharmacy-based repeat dispensing pilot project

Objective: To measure changes in dispensing activity in a UK repeat dispensing pilot study and to estimate any associated cost savings. Method: Patients were provided with two successive three-monthly repeat prescriptions containing all of the items on their "repeat medicines list" and valid at a study pharmacy. Pharmacists consulted with patients at the time of supply and completed a patient-monitoring form. Prescriptions with pricing data were returned by the UK Prescription Pricing Authority. These data were used to calculate dispensing activity, the cost of dispensed items and an estimate of cost savings on non-dispensed items. A retrospective identification of items prescribed during the six months prior to the project was used to provide a comparison with those dispensed during the project and thus a more realistic estimate of changes. Setting: 350 patients from two medical practices in a large English City, with inner city and suburban locations, and served by seven pharmacies. Key findings: There were methodological challenges in establishing a robust framework for calculating changes. Based on all of the items that patients could have obtained from their repeat list, 23.8% were not dispensed during the intervention period. A correction was then made to allow for a comparison with usage in the six months prior to the study. Based on the corrected data, there was an estimated 11.3% savings in drug costs compared with the pre-intervention period. There was a marked difference in changes between the two practices, the pharmacies and individual patients. The capitation-based remuneration method was acceptable to all but one of the community pharmacists. Conclusion: The repeat dispensing system reduced dispensing volume in comparison with the control period. A repeat dispensing system with a focus on patients' needs and their use of medicines might be cost neutral.

The new UK research governance: its impact on pharmacy undergraduate research projects

Implementation of the Department of Health Research Governance Framework (RGF) in the United Kingdom has major implications for the conduct of pharmacy practice undergraduate research projects. This paper draws upon a survey of local ethics research committees (LRECs) in the greater Birmingham area to identify the issues that arise from the RGF in relation to non-clinical practice research in community pharmacy. Although there is some evidence of minor differences between LRECs, the overwhelming finding is that projects will be subject to the full force of the RGF. The implications are discussed in relation to specific issues relating to non-clinical research, the professional aspirations for a research capable workforce, and the expertise within pharmacy to meet the current accreditation requirements for undergraduate projects.

An evaluation of motivations for studying pharmacy, career commitment and future career plans

It has been predicted that there will be a full time pharmacist workforce shortage of over 15,000 by 2013. It is therefore necessary to recruit more students of a suitable calibre to undergraduate pharmacy degree courses. This study was designed to investigate the motivations of pre-university and MPharm students for studying pharmacy. A series of focus groups was conducted with Year 12 students and a national survey of Year 13, 1st year MPharm and 4th year MPharm students was undertaken. The study found that amongst Year 12 students, pharmacy is perceived as a background profession and was also perceived as being of a lower status than medicine and dentistry. It was concluded that there was a need for greater promotion of pharmacy as a career amongst pre-university students, including the provision of structured work experience placements. Analysis of UCAS applicant data for pharmacy shows that the applicant pool is buoyant and that the majority of applicants are female. Female respondents to the surveys were significantly more likely than males to wish to work part time if they had a family. This could lead to further shortages in the full time workforce. The largest ethnic group of applicants to pharmacy degree courses were Asian. Business ownership and self-employment were motivations for entering the procession of pharmacy and career aims for significantly more Asian than White respondents. Ownership of independent pharmacies is declining and this could be a barrier to future recruitment to pharmacy degree courses. A high degree of interest in locum working may present a problem for continuity in commissioned services within community pharmacy practice. Further work is needed to examine the motivations for working as a locum pharmacist.