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Proficiency
The draft Pharmacy Order 2009 includes provisions for the GPhC to develop and promote standards of proficiency for safe and effective practice at the point of registration. There are also provisions for the GPhC to consider annotations for advanced or specialist practice. (At present an annotation relating to prescribing is available to pharmacists.) It is anticipated that, following consultation, the GPhC will implement proficiency standards for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians when it opens in 2010. The current regulator, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB), has not set explicit standards of proficiency, so these will be new standards for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
Setting the new standards
The RPSGB's Pharmacy Practice Framework, published in February 2009, and its Practice Framework for Pharmacy Technicians will inform the setting of proficiency standards for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
It is anticipated that, where appropriate, the same standards will be set for the two professions, for example on professional accountability and professionalism, and that skills will be defined by an accompanying statement on the scope of practice for pharmacists and for pharmacy technicians.
Application of the standards over time
In setting proficiency standards for registration, it is recognised that a registrant's scope of practice will change over time and that the practice of a skilled and experienced practitioner will become more focused and specialised as time progresses. Therefore not all proficiency standards will apply to all practitioners throughout their careers.
Compliance
It will be the responsibility of registrants to demonstrate how they meet the standards relevant to safe and effective practice in their field.
In the first instance, continuing to meet the standards will be demonstrated through meeting the continuing professional development standards. In the future, revalidation may be used in order to broaden the scope of the GPhC's powers to assess competence and performance. The RPSGB is currently developing and piloting approaches to revalidation for pharmacy, and this work will be transferred to the GPhC in 2010.
Examples of other professions' proficiency standards can be found on the Health Professions Council website.