New HEIW Projects
16 June 2023
CUREMeDE have been commissioned by Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) to evaluate a number of new or revised education and training programme for trainee pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in Wales.
Post-Foundation Programme for Pharmacists
HEIW have revised its post-Foundation pharmacist training programme to ensure the existing workforce of qualified pharmacists keeps pace with the General Pharmaceutical Council’s rollout of new initial education and training standards for pharmacists. CUREMeDE has been tasked with evaluating the impact of this new post-Foundation programme and how it supports pharmacists in developing their competence and confidence in practice.
For more information, see our project page.
Clinical Placements for Pharmacy Undergraduates
HEIW is working in partnership with the Welsh Schools of Pharmacy based at Cardiff and Swansea Universities to increase the availability of experiential learning and clinical placements within the four-year MPharm degree. Such placements will provide students with experience in community, hospital, and general practice pharmacy settings and are intended to help prepare student pharmacists for their Foundation year.
CUREMeDE will be evaluating the implementation of the clinical placements and exploring the proof of concept of implementing Entrustable Professional Activities in this earlier stage of pharmacists’ education and training.
For more information, see our project page.
Protected Time for Independent Prescribing Pharmacists
The role of pharmacists is expanding as they take on increasing responsibilities in healthcare provision. However, the demands on community pharmacies in particular leave community pharmacists with little time to pursue learning and development opportunities. In response, HEIW is piloting a provision of protected time to pharmacists who are independent prescribers. These pharmacists will be able to access up to five days of protected time to support and/or expand their scope of practice. CUREMeDE will be exploring how pharmacists make use of their five days of protected time and whether it impacts their scope of practice and confidence in providing independent prescribing services.
For more information, see our project page.
A New Initial Education and Training Programme for Pharmacy Technicians
Individuals training to become pharmacy technicians must pursue a two-year training programme comprising a competency and knowledge-based course and a work-based component. In Wales, the competency and knowledge-based component was recently revised. CUREMeDE will be engaging with trainees and supervisors to evaluate the revised programme, and explore how the work-based component aligns with the new course, and the extent to which the programme is preparing trainees for practice.
For more information, see our project page.