Countdown to revalidation – what it means for you

15 February 2018

 

Revalidation is a process which will help pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to keep their professional skills and knowledge up to date.  It will help to show how you provide the safe and effective care patients and the public expect, as set out in the standards for pharmacy professionals.

For a long time pharmacy professionals have provided assurance of their ability to keep their knowledge and skills up to date by carrying out and recording continuing professional development (CPD) activities. But in the evolving world of health and social care, patients and the public would like to have further assurance that pharmacy professionals remain safe and effective after their initial registration.

The revalidation framework encourages pharmacy professionals to reflect on their learning and practice, and it focuses on the outcomes for the people using the services of pharmacy professionals to provide that assurance.

What is changing?

On 30 March 2018, revalidation replaces the current requirement for registrants to complete CPD.  The revalidation framework sets out our expectations of what pharmacy professionals must do each year to meet the requirements for revalidation.

You will need to record activities using the updated myGPhC online system, and to submit your records every year, at the point when you renew your registration.To see what you will need to record and submit and when, take a look at your personal revalidation timeline

The first year you submit revalidation records

During the first year of revalidation, you will need to carry out, record and submit:

  • four CPD records, at least two of which must be planned learning activities

You will need to record these activities using the updated myGPhC online system.

Pharmacy professionals with a registration renewal deadline of 31 October will be the first group to submit four CPD records when they renew their registration. You will need to submit four CPD records the next time your renewal is due on or after this date.

The second year you submit revalidation records

In the next year, and in all subsequent years, you will need to carry out, record and submit:

  • four CPD records, at least two of which must be planned learning activities
  • one peer discussion
  • one reflective account

Each time your registration renewal is due from 31 October 2019, you will need to submit records of these activities which you’ve carried out over the previous year, to meet the revalidation requirement part of your registration renewal.

How can you get ready?

  1. Print any CPD entries you want to keep: The current CPD system, uptodate.org.uk, will become read-only on 1 April 2018. It will be taken offline and all content will be deleted on 1 June 2018, so if you want to keep any CPD entries you have previously recorded in uptodate.org, you will need to save or print them as a PDF by 1 June 2018. See section 7 of the  CPD Online user guide for instructions on how to do this.
     
  2. Look out for your sign up letter: to use the updated myGPhC online system, which will be launched in April 2018, you’ll need to set up an account on the updated system. We will contact you during April 2018 by post to give you the information you’ll need to do this. To manage demand, we will contact groups of registrants based on their registration expiry date – so we may contact you at a different time from your colleagues. Set up your account as soon as possible after you hear from us so you are ready to record your revalidation activity and renew your registration.
     
  3. Find out more about revalidation activity: You can create revalidation records before you create your account – find out more about how to carry out and record revalidation activities in the revalidation framework, and record your entries offline using the revalidation record templates. You can transfer your records to the online system later.

What other pharmacy professionals have said about the new requirements

As part of the development of revalidation requirements, we asked pharmacy professionals to carry out  revalidation activities, as part of a pilot. You can read the report from the pilot on our website, but here is some of the feedback we received:

“The questions being so open made it easier to complete. You can write as little or as much as needed. Questions were succinct - didn't go on pages and pages like the last one. It is less onerous. I used to dread filling in the CPD but [this] isn't too bad. It is an extension of the learning activity. The other system felt like an additional chore.”

“The format and the way the questions were asked made it easier to do. It was very well done and very well thought out. Much easier to write up and less time consuming.”

“Definitely an improvement on the current system, more meaningful and relevant.”

Where can you go for further help and information

 

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