In Profession news

Follow this topic

Bookmark

Record learning outcomes

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is consulting on a raft of proposals to change the education and training route for internationally qualified pharmacists who want to register in the UK.

The 12-week consultation, launched today, seeks views from providers, pharmacy professionals, pharmacy owners and patient representative bodies on the introduction of one year of “integrated academic learning and learning in practice” to replace the current two-year course consisting of a postgraduate diploma and a foundation training year.

The GPhC said it wanted to reduce the length of training to one year because the current route was “expensive in both time and money” and “inflexible, particularly for pharmacists with substantial prior experience”. 

“In designing a new route, we have taken into account that applicants are already qualified pharmacists with relevant science and pharmaceutical skills and knowledge,” the regulator said in its consultation document.

“Therefore, the emphasis in the new programme is on applying skills and knowledge in the context of pharmacy practice in Great Britain.”

Embed independent prescribing into the programme 

The GPhC, who defined internationally qualified pharmacists as those who have qualified outside the European Economic Area, European Free Trade Association countries and Switzerland, also wants to embed independent prescribing into the programme to allow those pharmacists to join the register as independent prescribers.

Internationally qualified pharmacists will have to complete at least 90 hours of “learning in practice dedicated to independent prescribing”, the same as UK-trained pharmacists who joined the register before 2026.

“Internationally qualified pharmacists are already pharmacists and bring with them a set of pharmaceutical skills that we can verify,” the GPhC said.

“In some cases, this includes experience of prescribing medicines, although within a different context to pharmacists prescribing in Great Britain, and under different rules. Taking this into account, we believe that including independent prescribing in the revised programme is realistic and achievable.

"Also, if we do this, internationally qualified pharmacists will not be put at a disadvantage when they register. They will be able to provide the same services and care as pharmacists who have trained in Great Britain.”

Knowledge, skills, understanding and professional behaviours

Other proposals include recognising internationally qualified pharmacists’ “relevant prior experience”, which would take into account education and training which is similar to that in the UK during the application process.

Views are also being sought on updating learning outcomes to include “knowledge, skills, understanding and professional behaviours an internationally qualified pharmacist must demonstrate by the end of their programme” and the continued requirement for all applicants to pass the registration assessment.

GPhC chief executive Kathie Cashell said the proposals “strike the right balance between recognising existing skills and knowledge and making sure internationally-qualified pharmacists are fully prepared for practice in Great Britain”.

“By streamlining the route and embedding the right training, we can help internationally‑qualified pharmacists be ready to sit the common registration assessment and join the register sooner, with all the capabilities they need to deliver high-quality patient care from day one,” she said. The consultation closes on July 21.