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Funding for preregistration pharmacists to be cut by up to 25% across England, HEE announces
Salary support funding for NHS preregistration places across England will be cut to 75% from September 2020, Health Education England (HEE) has announced.
In a letter distributed to chief pharmacists in England on 4 January 2019 and seen by The Pharmaceutical Journal, Hazel Smith, national programme lead for the Education Funding programme at HEE, explained that the change in funding was the outcome of a review which had identified variation across the country in the amount of salary support provided to trusts.
She said that HEE had decided that levels of salary support “did not appear to be evidence-based or demand-led and could be challenged as inconsistent and inequitable”.
The cuts have been described as “disappointing”, with one chief pharmacist saying that it will cost them over £70,000 per year.
The aim of the cuts is to ensure that all NHS employed preregistration posts across England will receive the same amount of financial salary support for each preregistration trainee it takes on from September 2020.
But with the majority of English regions currently receiving 100% salary support, the announcement means that many posts will have their support reduced by 25%.
Gail Fleming, director for education and professional development at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, described the news as “disappointing” for the profession, the NHS and patient care.
“Reducing funding for training pharmacists at a time the new NHS [Long-Term] plan calls for pharmacists to play a greater role in healthcare is incoherent. Less money for preregistration training in the NHS will directly impact on the number of pharmacists the NHS can train.
“This will reduce the capacity pharmacy has to help the NHS with huge workforce challenges now and in the future.”
Sue Ladds, chief pharmacist at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, said that the ten preregistration places in her trust are currently funded at 100%, so will suffer a 25% reduction, meaning the trust will have to find £72,000 per year to maintain the posts.
Nigel Ratcliffe, chair of the Pharmacy Schools Council and former head of the pharmacy school at Keele University, said: “This decision is with little notice and will of course generate uncertainty for current students [in their third year or early into their four-year course] surrounding their pre-registration placing and its funding.”
HEE said that the money saved will be reinvested “to ensure improved impact” and that it would be collaborating with the profession and employers to ensure that “an effective national reinvestment plan can be implemented”.
It added that its intention was to have a reinvestment plan consulted upon by September 2019. Options for reinvestment include placement support, supporting integration of preregistration training and improving quality and expansion of placements, it said.
“We will strongly advocate for these to be invested into vital frontline training for the profession at this critical time,” Fleming added.
According to HEE, the cut will affect preregistration trainee pharmacists in NHS HEE funded placements. These trainees are predominately placed in hospitals but are also working within mental health trusts and in a small number of joint posts with clinical commissioning groups and general practice.
Calum Pallister, director of finance at HEE, said: “A significant number of employers receive only 75% funding reflecting that they already benefit from a contribution to service from these employees. Harmonisation of salary support arrangements for preregistration trainee pharmacists and other professions across the NHS will ensure HEE has a fairer, simpler, transparent and more consistent approach in which trainees for eligible professions receive the equal amounts of funding across England.”
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BPSA president steps down owing to 'conflicting priorities'
The president of the British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (BPSA), Junel Ahmed, has stepped down from his role with immediate effect, it has been announced.
The BPSA, a national body representing pharmacy students and preregistration trainee pharmacists, said the decision was owing to “conflicting priorities”, and added its gratitude to Ahmed for “his dedication and commitment to the Association over the last five years”.
Ahmed was elected as president in July 2018 and was previously on the BPSA executive for three terms. On taking the role, he said he wanted to “make a difference for students, making sure that we’re engaging with our members and providing them with what they want from the Association”.
The BPSA is currently holding a co-option for the vacant position of president to run until June 2019.
Ahmed told The Pharmaceutical Journal: “Alongside some personal priorities, due to the demands of my job, I feel the priority is to fully focus on my development as a pharmacist.
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