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A pharmacy academic's view

For over 40 years, Keith Wilson has studied and worked at Aston University, where he is Professor of Pharmacy Practice and the Head of the School of Pharmacy.

The need for an independent regulatory body 

Keith thinks that creating an independent regulatory body will lead to a clarification of roles. He says: 'My personal view is that it was necessary to separate the regulatory arm from the professional arm. I think there was a conflict of interest between the two areas and the separation of functions will help to clarify things. It will make the professional body stronger in representing us and means that the role of the GPhC is unequivocal.' In his teaching role, he and his colleagues are keeping students informed about the development of the GPhC and he feels that most of them see the logic in the changes.

Keith believes that academic pharmacists have a key role in supporting the work of the GPhC, as 'education and training underpin everything about standards'. In addition, he and his colleagues 'need to meet professional standards just as patient-facing pharmacists do — we need to be up to date with these standards so we can teach the regulatory aspects of the role'.

Clarifying professional accountability

Keith hopes that the GPhC will clarify where professional responsibility for accountability lies within schools of pharmacy. He explains: 'At the moment, the number and range of academic pharmacists within schools are not defined. Around half of the people who teach are not pharmacists, although they have specialist backgrounds. We need to make sure that there is a core of people who are pharmacists to deliver the professional parts of the course. At the moment, it isn't very clear what this balance should be.'

Engaging with academic pharmacists 

Keith would like the GPhC to engage with schools of pharmacy and the Council of University Heads of Pharmacy Schools (CUHOP) so that they can work together to develop professional standards. He hopes 'that the statutory requirement to consult and the difference in emphasis in the GPhC's role will allow a debate about education to be developed'.

As the new regulator, the GPhC will be responsible for setting standards for education. Keith hopes that work carried out by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) to develop educational standards will be taken forward by the GPhC. This would include work to develop a code of approval for the accreditation of schools.

Appointing Council members

Keith says that it is important that there is strong educational expertise in the Council. He welcomes the inclusion of lay people on the Council but feels that 'the big change is that all members of the Council are appointed. I think that is a good change. What's important is that, through that process, we appoint Council members with educational expertise, either lay members or professionals — or ideally both.'