The Scottish Pharmacy Clinical Leadership Fellowship (SPCLF) scheme which was launched in 2018 has been successful in supporting future pharmacy leaders and taking forward strategic objectives to improve the pharmaceutical care of patients in Scotland.
Building on this, cohort 2 of the scheme aims to provide NHS Scotland with the next group of senior pharmacists and one pharmacy technician. The Fellowship aims to support professionals who committed to pharmacy development, and to help them develop towards leadership roles in their workplaces and potentially at national and international levels.
From September 2019, five Scottish Pharmacist Clinical Leadership Fellows and one Scottish Pharmacy Technician Clinical Leadership Fellow will be responsible for taking forward some of the key actions from the Scottish Government Pharmacy Strategy `Achieving Excellence in Pharmaceutical Care’ (AEiPC). The additional pharmacist post will be in conjunction with NHS National Services Scotland (NSS).
The cohort 2 Fellows are:
Melanie Bryan (NHS Dumfries and Galloway),
Ruaridh Buchan (NHS Lothian)
Siobhan McGuinness (NHS Fife)
Pamela MacIntyre (NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde)
Ruth Waters (NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde)
Anne Wilson (Strathcarron Hospice/NHS Forth Valley).
As well as developing their leadership skills at a strategic level they will be taking forward projects focused respectively on pharmacy technician workforce and career framework, access to advanced therapies, community pharmacy/primary care transformation, pharmacotherapy/primary care transformation, electronic prescribing in hospitals and pharmaceutical care in care homes.
Dr Parr said:
“I am delighted with the success of the Pharmacy Clinical Fellows scheme which we initiated in 2018 and I look forward to working together with the next cohort along with leaders in the profession to take forward some of the priority actions from ‘Achieving Excellence in Pharmaceutical Care’. These posts will have a vital role in service redesign and improvement and are key to helping us achieve our vision for pharmacy as an integral and enhanced part of a modern NHS in Scotland’.
Professor Anne Watson, NES Postgraduate Pharmacy Dean said:
“We look forward to co-ordinating and hosting the second cohort of Scottish Clinical Pharmacy Fellows again for this exciting opportunity. I am sure that the individuals involved will be hugely successful in these roles and will be leaders in the profession of the future. They will drive forward key areas of professional development for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. We look forward to also linking them with the other Clinical Leadership Fellows from England as well as from the medical profession in Scotland.”
Seconded to NHS Education for Scotland for 3 days a week, the newly appointed Fellows will spend the next 12 months working closely with Scottish Government, NHS Scotland pharmacy leaders and other key stakeholders to take forward national initiatives linked to service redesign and improvement in all NHS pharmacy sectors and care homes. They will be provided with national leadership training, coaching and mentorship and will undertake a tailored development programme with other Pharmacy Clinical Leadership Fellows within the UK as well as other professions including Medicine and Dentistry.