First cohort to begin Welsh post-registration foundation pharmacist programme

More than 30 newly qualified pharmacists in Wales have signed up for a new, fully-funded post-registration foundation pharmacist programme starting in September 2022.

The programme, run by Cardiff University in collaboration with Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), was first announced in February 2022. It will use the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s (RPS’s) post-registration foundation pharmacist curriculum, and aligns with the ‘A Healthier Wales’ agenda

A spokesperson for HEIW confirmed to The Pharmaceutical Journal on 16 September 2022 that 34 people had signed up to be part of the first cohort.

The programme is part of Wales’ overall implementation of new General Pharmaceutical Council standards for the initial education and training of pharmacists. In its announcement of the programme, HEIW said that it would provide a “continuum of practice for new registrants early in their careers” and “offers a structured pathway to develop competency to deliver more complex patient care, bridging the period for new registrants, until the new [Initial Education and Training Standards of Pharmacists] standards are fully implemented”.

Cheryl Way, chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s (RPS’s) Welsh Pharmacy Board, said RPS Wales was “delighted” with the initial uptake.  

“Through implementation of the RPS post-registration pharmacist curriculum, the programme provides a continuum of practice for new registrants early in their career, with the achievement of independent prescriber status.

“This exciting new training programme will help early post-registration pharmacists to grow from meeting the initial standards of education and training, through to being confident practitioners who can provide increasingly complex care. It represents a pharmacist’s first step in their post-registration professional development journey.”

Way added that the programme will “help to develop a workforce that can work wherever the patient needs them, adding more flexibility to meet the current and future demands on the NHS, enhancing patient care”.