In its submission to the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s (HEFCE’s) consultation on ‘Ensuring a sustainable supply of pharmacy graduates’, the PDA proposes that:
- Numbers of students admitted to schools of pharmacy should be reduced and controlled centrally.
- NHS England must create a pharmacy workforce plan outlining numbers of pharmacists required that would inform the number of students that should be admitted to schools of pharmacy. To do this, NHSE must first generate a solid narrative on the future role of pharmacists.
- Pre-registration students should not be employed by their trainers, but should receive NHS bursaries.
- Numbers of pre-registration training places should not be left to market forces, but should be made a condition of holding NHS contracts and be decided upon on a quota basis.
- The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) must do more to raise standards in schools of pharmacy – in particular, the perception held by some schools that pharmacy is a science and not a healthcare course must be addressed.
- Pre-registration training should also be undertaken in the primary care setting.
Mark Koziol, PDA Chairman, comments:
“It is now known that many thousands of pharmacy graduates face the possibility of never registering because there are not enough pre-reg training placements available and these estimates are based upon the numbers of pre-reg training placements remaining static. In reality, some of the largest multiples are reducing their commitment to pre-reg training by 50% and this will make the situation considerably worse. It is not difficult to envisage what could happen if some employers through opportunism seek to take maximum advantage of this situation and this is why we are recommending that rather than employers receiving a grant from the government to pay a pre-reg a salary during their training year, that pre-reg’s receive direct NHS bursaries instead. Added to these problems, the lack of central control which allows universities to continue to establish new Schools of Pharmacy and to expand their operations profitably has been one of the major factors that has created this situation. Beyond the moral issue of producing far more pharmacy graduates that can ever come to qualify, is the fact that the current approach is already causing damage to the stability of employment for qualified pharmacists.”
He continues;
“It is now vital for sweeping changes to be made in the way that we approach the education of pharmacists. If the current approach is not addressed, then pharmacy will become an unattractive profession, one incapable of attracting the brightest and the best undergraduates and retaining the newly qualifieds. We will continue to engage with the government and the educational funding authorities, and we will also continue working towards the creation of new roles to ensure the right balance between supply and demand for qualified pharmacists can be re-established.”
For the PDA’s full response to the HEFCE consultation, visit:
For the PDA’s seven-point plan for balancing the supply and demand for pharmacists, visit:
And read more about the PDA’s proposals for new roles for pharmacists