Funding boost means UK first for pharmacist training programme in Wales
Trainee pharmacists in Wales are set to benefit from a £3.6m funding boost meaning more training places, in more settings and NHS employment for their final year of training.
Thanks to additional Welsh Government funding, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) - responsible for the pre and post registration education and training of pharmacists in Wales – is to launch a new transformational training programme for pre-registration trainee pharmacists starting in 2020.
The extra £3.6m funding, rising to £4.9m by 2023, will see the number of pharmacist training places in Wales increase from around 120 to 200.
Professor Margaret Allan, Pharmacy Dean at HEIW said: “This is fantastic news. Our vision is to transform the pharmacy workforce in Wales to meet the ever changing demands of modern day healthcare.
“This funding will be the corner stone to working collaboratively with NHS partners and placement providers, and modernising our pre-registration training programme. It will align NHS training standards with the proposed new initial education and training standards from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
“We’ll also be able to ensure the number of trainees are in line with the number of pharmacists needed to deliver the patient services of the future.”
As part of the new programme, trainees will receive clinical placement training in a wider range of settings.
Currently, training prepares trainees to work either in hospitals or community pharmacies, but the expanding role of the pharmacist now sees them working in other areas such as GP practices.
Professor Allan added: “We’ll be working closely with education and placement providers to provide high quality placements across community pharmacies, hospitals and GP practices. This means, on the first day of registration pharmacists will have the skills and confidence to work flexibly across sectors and meet the needs of patients.”
On announcing the funding, Health Minister, Vaughan Gething said: “Pharmacists play an increasingly important role in the delivery of health care in Wales. We have made great strides in Wales with pharmacists providing advice and treatment, reducing the burden on our GPs. As demand for their clinical skills increase we must ensure we are able to a train sufficient number of pharmacists to meet the needs of the NHS in Wales in all sectors of pharmacy practice.”
In addition, in a first for the UK, all pre-registration trainee pharmacists in Wales will be employed by the NHS for the final year of their learning in practice. Centralising employment removes barriers allowing trainees to move easily between sectors and gain more experience.
This centralisation will also free up time within the workplace to focus completely on providing great training.
Professor Allan said: “We are committed in HEIW to providing the best education and training for our healthcare workforce. I am delighted the Welsh Government has agreed to this considerable investment in the pharmacy workforce, which will be the building blocks for our future ambitions in Wales for pharmacy. Trainees and tutors can be assured the focus for the pre-registration year will be on the quality of the training experience across all sectors of practice.”
Andrew Evans, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Wales, has given the new programme his full support. He said: “We want trainees to know that Wales is a fabulous place to do their training with consistently high pass rates in the pre-registration examination and we want to attract the highest calibre of pharmacy graduates. Pharmacists who choose to come to Wales, can benefit from a well-integrated healthcare system, facilitating knowledge sharing and innovation across a wide range of settings, allowing us to give our patients the best care possible.
“Healthcare professionals in Wales also benefit from a great work-life balance, continuous professional support, affordable housing and lots of choice for their leisure time. And our new training programme will ensure that pharmacists have the appropriate skills both to deliver clinical services and to work flexibly between hospitals, GP practices, community pharmacies and other settings where pharmacy professionals can improve the safety and quality of medicines use.”