CPPE and RPS working together to help pharmacists with revalidation

With many options for learning, and many different organisations providing guidance, wouldn’t it be great if we could consolidate the resources and support available?

The Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE) has worked with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) for many years, but revalidation has provided an opportunity to truly work together on a common goal of supporting pharmacy professionals, using our resources collaboratively and providing pharmacy professionals the guidance of both organisations. We worked together to run joint workshops across England through local RPS and regional CPPE teams.

The workshops brought together pharmacy professionals from all sectors to discuss their recent learning. Facilitated discussions increased awareness of how this learning can be applied to improve patient safety outcomes, which can be used to complete a continuing professional development (CPD) entry to meet the revalidation requirements. Participants were guided through four activities:

• Considering the impact of their learning;
• Using evidence in continuing professional development entries for revalidation;
• Sharing how their practice will change as a result of the learning;
• Developing skills for peer discussion and developing networks to enable peer discussion when it is introduced as part of revalidation in 2019.

It can be difficult to find the time for reflection during a busy day, so the joint workshop provided protected time to reflect on learning and to complete a revalidation entry with the support of the CPPE, the RPS and peers.

A major outcome from the events was a pledge to change practice. People said they would change their practice by:

• Using information gained to improve writing of their CPD to benefit patients and themselves;
• Reflecting on their practice more critically and recording beneficial outcomes;
• Focusing on how their practice benefits service users and changing their learning to focus on how it will affect their patients;
• Understanding the importance of recording incidents, completing root–cause analysis, and reflecting on how to improve and prevent similar incidents and sharing this with others;
• Optimising the dispensing process in the pharmacy  and updating standard operating procedures to improve patient safety;
• Making a concerted effort to consider the anticholinergic burden of patient’s medicines on drug charts and bringing this to the attention of the prescriber where appropriate.

These statements highlight how collaborating, providing a space for reflection, and linking learning to practice and revalidation can enhance not only participants’ own professional abilities, but also the patient experience.

Caroline Barraclough, regional manager, East Midlands

Sarah Ridgway-Green, regional manager, South East

Both at the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education