4.12 Final declaration
Your tutor will make a final assessment of your competence via myGPhC. You can request that your tutor completes your final declaration from week 49 of your training, through your myGPhC account.
This form overrides all your other progress reports. When it is signed off, the GPhC knows that the tutor has decided you are ready to start work as a newly qualified pharmacist.
If you have more than one tutor, the tutor who signs off your final declaration takes ultimate responsibility for that decision.
Once the tutor signs the declaration, they are not able to revoke it. We expect that if one of the joint tutors has concerns about your performance, they discuss this with the other tutor, and that they both agree the most appropriate outcome before completing the declaration.
We would expect your tutor(s) to consider whether they think:
- you are safe (you might be slow, for example, but do you have insight into the consequences of your actions, and are your decisions likely to have an outcome of harm?)
- you could work autonomously as a pharmacist on day one of registration (that is, that can you work unsupervised)
- your fitness to practice impaired (that is, you behave as we would expect a pharmacist to behave)
- you have met and been signed off on all the performance standards?
4.13 If a trainee cannot be signed off as competent
Tutors and trainees should always document any performance issues that have arisen throughout the year, as well as the meetings about them and actions taken to improve performance.
If a trainee has not met all the performance standards because of problems or slow progress and needs to have an extension to their training, this should have been identified and discussed before their entry to the registration assessment. You should also have told us about the proposed revised finish date using a change of training details form
Training can continue at the site for the length of time needed to achieve the required standard. But this needs to take into account the eight-year time limit from entry into the MPharm degree, or four years for OSPAP qualifications.
If an employer cannot extend the training period and the trainee has to relocate, they will usually need to spend at least six months in the new placement.
4.14 Observed evidence
There are various types of observed evidence. Here are some examples:
Summative assessment
This is when you take a formal assessment at the end of a set activity. This should be planned in advance and it assesses learning by awarding marks or – in this context – whether performance standards are signed off.
Examples could include:
- taking an in-patient medication history in hospital
- demonstrating how to use inhalers
- measuring and fitting hosiery
- preparations prepared ‘on the spot’ including formula, calculation and procedures
- an accuracy log of dispensed or final checked medications
Formative assessment
This is when you take part in a reflective process, involving feedback, that assesses a set activity. It should be used as a platform for you to highlight good practice or areas for improvement.
Examples could include:
- counselling a patient who has come to the pharmacy to collect their prescription
- dealing with a request for an immediate supply of a prescription-only medication
- involvement in a heated discussion with other staff members, either as a participant or to calm things down
- challenging a prescriber directly to change a prescription
- answering the phone and managing the enquiry
Simulation
This is when you make an observation of a hypothetical situation. It could be based on an issue you have previously managed in practice, an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) or a role play during a study day.
Examples could include:
- case presentation or care plan based on actual or hypothetical problems
- patient counselling examples practised with other staff members
- one-to-one hypothetical discussion with the practice supervisor
- case studies in an online or paper-based training package
Written evidence
There are various types of written evidence. Here are some examples:
CPD entry – Continuing professional development is a key part of revalidation, which pharmacists and pharmacy technicians must carry out as part of their registration requirements. It helps them to keep their professional skills and knowledge up to date, to reflect on how to improve and to show how they provide the safe and effective care that patients and the public expect. There is more information about revalidation on our main website, and you can download forms (with guidance) to record CPD entries and share them with your tutor.
Witnessed accounts – You can write an account of how you carried out a task or managed a situation. You can have this verified by a witness that was present at the time, but who does not have responsibility for training or supervising your practice. A witnessed account can also be in the form of patient feedback.
Projects and assignments in the workplace – A classic example of this is that all trainees have to successfully engage in a quality-improvement process if they are to meet performance standard A4.8. Accredited certificates for internal and external learning events or a first-aid certificate would come into this category.
Documented workplace assessments – Examples could include:
- a sterile technique broth test
- dispensing accuracy logs
- using clinical assessment tools, as used by doctors in training or pharmacy diploma practitioners, such as mini-CEX, mini-PAT or mini-TAB
- anonymised copies of prescriptions and other patient information
These can be excellent examples for you to demonstrate when you have identified a clinical issue such as a drug interaction, and also allow you to write up how you resolved the issue.