The launch by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) of a new individual Consultant Pharmacist credentialing service along with their approval service for consultant pharmacist posts in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland is in line with the recently published Career Framework review recommendations for Scotland.
It means there is now a single, national model for credentialing both posts and pharmacists to build a standardised workforce of clinical pharmacy leaders equipped to deliver improved patient care across systems. This is a real achievement and has been supported by many organisations across the UK in order to support making this happen.
The Pharmacist Post Registration Career Framework review carried out in Scotland, on behalf of the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, outlines a proposed route for Advanced Practice pharmacists leading to Consultant level pharmacists. Further consideration is being given to these developments for the profession in Scotland in line with the RPS process for both posts and individuals for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which will need to also align with NHS Scotland workforce plans.
Professor Anne Watson, Postgraduate Pharmacy Dean, NHS Education for Scotland stated:
“We are delighted that the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has launched its Consultant pharmacist credentialing service which will ensure experts across the service can provide a consistent approach to ensuring practitioners have the knowledge, skills, behaviours and experience required to credential as consultant- ready. This service will ensure they are eligible to take up approved consultant pharmacist posts in their area of clinical practice. Within Scotland, this will support the ambitious and exciting developments we have proposed for the pharmacists` leadership role as medicines experts and we suggest will assist in meeting the demands of the profession now and in the future.”
Any professional queries around this should be directed to pharmacy@nes.scot.nhs.uk