GPhC Council gives green light to implementation of revalidation in a ‘step-change’ for pharmacy professionals
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) will introduce revalidation for pharmacy professionals from 30 March 2018, after its Council approved the framework for revalidation and agreed the timetable for its implementation.
All pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in Great Britain will have to demonstrate that they are regularly reflecting on their learning and practice and keeping up to date. Each year, pharmacy professionals will have to complete and submit four CPD records, a record of a peer discussion and a record of a reflective account. They will be asked to explain in each record how what they have done has benefited people using pharmacy services, to make sure improving the care people receive is at the heart of the process.
GPhC Chair Nigel Clarke said:
“Revalidation is a significant step-change for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians and I am delighted that the Council has given the go-ahead to this important process. We believe that the introduction of revalidation will further assure users of pharmacy services that pharmacy professionals will provide them with safe and effective care throughout their careers.,
“We have been working towards this goal alongside a range of groups, professionals, employers and patients for a number of years to make sure we can collectively bring revalidation forward in a robust and evidence based way. Going forward we will continue to work collaboratively with these groups as we make revalidation a reality.”
In response to feedback received through the consultation, the Council has agreed to take a number of actions to further improve the framework for revalidation and to support pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to meet the new requirements.
These include strengthening guidance within the revalidation framework, and producing new guidance and supporting information to further explain some parts of the process, including peer discussion and the reflective account. The final framework is expected to be published in the coming weeks.
All registrants will receive tailored information and guidance from February 2018 onwards to explain what they will need to do and when.
At the meeting, Council members emphasised the GPhC’s commitment to and importance of continuing to work collaboratively with other pharmacy organisations throughout implementation, including on how they can support registrants to locate appropriate peers and engage with the process in the most meaningful way.
The Council also committed to evaluating how revalidation is working in practice once it is implemented to better understand its impact and how it should develop going forward.
The following timetable for implementation was agreed:
- A new online portal will be made available to registrants to record their revalidation records in March 2018.
- In 2018, the first tranche of registrants with a registration expiry date of 31 December 2018 will be asked to submit four CPD records when renewing their registration.
- In 2019, the first tranche of registrants with registration expiry date of 31 December 2019 will be asked to submit their full six records for revalidation (four CPD records, a record of a peer discussion record and a reflective account) when renewing their registration.
Lord Kirkwood, Chair of the Revalidation Advisory Group, said:
“I am pleased to see that revalidation will shortly be launched. For a number of years the sector has been working together to bring about this new process and support person-centred professionalism in a robust and evidence-based way. I urge pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to embrace this important change for the benefits it can bring to themselves and the people using their services.”
Dr Catherine Duggan, Director of Professional Development at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society said:
“Revalidation will further enable pharmacists to demonstrate their capabilities and be recognised for excellence in healthcare provision. We support this focus on reflection and learning for all registrants and believe it will further enhance the public’s confidence and trust in the profession.
We look forward to continuing to work with the GPhC as revalidation further develops in the future to support pharmacists for the benefits of patients.”
Tess Fenn, President of APTUK said:
“Revalidation provides an important opportunity for pharmacy technicians to demonstrate the safe and effective care that they are already delivering directly for patients and the public. We know that there is a lot of good work already taking place, and we hope with revalidation that this will be shared more widely. APTUK have been involved as a key stakeholder throughout the ‘research, testing, piloting and evaluation’ development stages of revalidation and the new framework, and we will continue to work closely with the GPhC and others into the future.”