Are Pharma Staff getting enough time to develop their skills?
Learning and development is a continuous process and its even more important when you are part of wellbeing and live saving field such as Pharmacy. Many big companies take it seriously when it comes to keeping their staff, management and the entire work force up to date with ever-evolving customer requirements or critical updates globally.
Companies are taking planned approach creating regular self-evaluations vs the rigorous market demand to excel and live up to the market and industry standards. This culture of regular ongoing learning is hence being promoted into many across all sectors, including the health care professionals. GP’s across fortunately are seen many a times closing to ensure the staff is trained and is up to date with rapid changing government, NHS guidelines, polices, or procedures.
However, while everybody is seeming to have picked up this culture understanding its importance and impact, somehow the pharmacies have not taken this seriously. 51% of the Pharmacist state in a survey by The Pharmaceutical Journal that they have not got the protected learning time and 39% state that they were never offered structured training. 72% of the community pharmacist have claimed they never received protected learning time, while only 51% of hospital pharmacist state otherwise. Among GPs, Primary Care network pharmacist the figure was only 19%.
Now this culture of no training starts very early, while in training, the trainee pharmacist, or pre-regs are also not getting the privilege of paid study leave or time in their contracts and some of them end up using their annual leave for this purpose.
With Covid 19 around things only got busier and many pharmacists across have worked more hours to keep up the demand and help. Those on the provisional foundation programme this year wear not given protected time for learning, despite the recognition that they require additional support.
Pharmacist in primary care schooling pathway in England does get 28 days of protected learning for a combination of face-to-face events and supervision conferences, even though the evidence display that the maximum valued interest for many is often surely having the time to talk about statistics with a peer.
Of course, revalidation requires evidence of persevered professional improvement and peer dialogue, however, this should be a chronic system of pharmacists getting out in their consolation quarter, questioning what they may be doing, and studying new approaches of doing matters.
As a part of its wellness campaigns, The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is calling for “pharmacists to have to get entry to protected learning time to help and enable their professional development”.
Survey records show that there is a way to go before this inside the case for everybody. Normal paid protected learning time ought to grow to be trendy for all pharmacists in all areas, no matter what degree they’re at. Because the profession takes on extra-scientific and various roles, within the fitness services it becomes even greater vital and patients will assume their pharmacist to be capable in any scenario.
When we step down to Pharmacy technicians, dispensers, and other pharmacy staff, who deal with customers and make major contribution to all pharmacies are also in the same boat.
There is ambiguity when it comes to upskilling of temporary staff including Locum Pharmacist, Locum Pharmacy Technician and Locum Pharmacy dispensers. Its important for to ensure all roles within pharmacy are taken into account and a common body takes into account that pharmacy staff as a whole are looked into, when it comes to self-assessment and upskilling to ensure they are all abreast and up to date to cope up with changing times.
Some helpful links
For Pharmacy Students – Click here to register with us click here
For Pre-Reg – Click here
For Pharmacist – Click here
Please let us know you thoughts around how can be ensure pharmacy staff as a whole are not neglected and are given equal opportunity of on going learning, skill development and training.