realised with registration of pharmacy technicians, ensuring the full capability 27 of the workforce is optimally utilised, whilst maintaining patient safety and public confidence.


Recommendations made by the Review


Recruitment


An early priority action for the Department, in response to the Review’s recommendations, is to take immediate steps to attract, recruit and retain more pharmacists in community, hospital and general practice roles within Northern Ireland. This is to be done by: • Reforming education and training of pharmacists to ensure they’re prepared for increasingly clinical roles • This is to include new registrants joining the register as independent prescribers at the end of their fifth year of education and training


Expansion of technician role The role of the pharmacy technician should also be promoted and the national career framework (APTuk Foundation Pharmacy Framework) adopted to support expansion of the role of pharmacy technicians and better skill-mix.


The extended role of pharmacy technicians in both dispensary and increasingly clinical roles has ably demonstrated the impact of a better skill-mix on patient care. This has been made possible by post- qualification training opportunities and should continue at an accelerated pace if technician and registration is introduced into NI.


Career development The workforce should be incentivised in order to attract and retain pharmacists by overcoming professional isolation, enabling collaborative working, offering peer support and fostering the acquisition of professional skills necessary to practice to a high level.


Job satisfaction should be improved through the introduction of flexible working, adequate breaks and safe staffing levels. A career pathway should also be developed for community pharmacists.


A similar career pathway should also be developed for general practice pharmacist and more strategic direction given as to how this sector should develop.


Response to Review ‘Pharmacists and their teams play an essential role in delivering health services to the people of Northern Ireland,’ said the Health Minister, Robin swann. ‘This has been particularly evident in the response to the COvID-19 pandemic, with pharmacy teams rising to the challenges posed by the emergency to adapt and maintain their services.


‘With our aging population, our Health service needs to care for increasing numbers of people with complex medical needs taking multiple medicines. Pharmacists with their unique set of skills and knowledge really are the medicines experts that our Health service needs to help ensure that our people get the best possible outcomes from their medicines.


‘Implementing the recommendations contained in the review will ensure that the pharmacy workforce has the necessary capability and capacity to fully support the transformation of our Health service in the coming years.’


‘Our review has considered the full scope of pharmacy practice in HsC settings, including community pharmacy, general practice and hospitals,’ added Cathy Harrison, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer at the Department of Health. ‘The recommendations contained within the report are ambitious and transformational for the pharmacy profession in Northern Ireland. Pharmacy teams are a critical part of the multi-disciplinary medicines optimisation workforce required to ensure that our people get the most from the medicines that they use every day, and are in high demand as a result.


‘Planned reforms of the initial education and training of pharmacists in the uk will see pharmacists taking on increasingly clinical roles across all sectors. Optimising the skill mix of the pharmacy workforce is an essential part of realising the full potential of these wider developments. A central theme of the Review is developing the role of pharmacy technicians within the workforce in tandem with progressing the regulation and registration of pharmacy technicians as registered professionals in their own right.’


Over 1,100 jobs for NI pharmacy in next five years


More than 1,100 additional roles in the pharmacy sector in Northern Ireland will be required over the next five years.


The requirement for the roles was identified in the Department’s ‘Pharmacy Workforce Review’ and the Pharmacy Futures NI initiative has been developed specifically to respond to the Review’s recommendations.


‘Pharmacy Futures NI’ is initially aimed at students thinking of entering the profession and pharmacists working away from home who may be thinking of returning to Northern Ireland.


The opportunities – which will see current vacancies filled as well as new roles created in response to the development of new pharmacy services – will include up to 560 community, hospital and general practice pharmacists and over 600 pharmacy technicians.


‘The Pharmacy Futures NI campaign,’ said sheelin Mckeagney, Chair of Pharmacy Forum NI, ‘will promote pharmacy as a career of choice in Northern Ireland – underpinned by a wide range of compelling factors such as greater opportunities for career progression and development, a fully integrated health and social care model, alongside the lower cost of living and quality of life for which the region is so well renowned.


‘Through Pharmacy Futures NI, we will highlight the exciting new era into which the pharmacy profession in Northern Ireland is entering. For example, incoming changes to the initial education and training of pharmacists across the uk, which will include reform of the current pre-registration year, will fully equip our future pharmacists for a range of clinical roles working directly with patients to optimise their outcomes from medicines.’


The Pharmacy Futures NI campaign will run until early January 2021 and will feature range of creative initiatives, including videos, digital assets and website, which will act as a recruitment hub for those interested in pharmacy roles in Northern Ireland. Over 30 ‘Pharmacy Champions’ will act as key communicators during the campaign, charting their career pathways and sharing their career highlights and experiences in the profession.


For more information about the Pharmacy Futures NI info, visit www.pharmacyfuturesni.com


Comment


Gerard Greene, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy NI


‘We welcome the publication of the workforce report and the launch of the Pharmacy Futures NI initiative. We have recognised for some time that we need to focus on recruiting more pharmacists for community pharmacy and we are pleased that there is work now underway to make that happen.


‘Community pharmacy is a challenging, but incredibly


rewarding, profession. Community pharmacists have been at the forefront of protecting and treating patients during this pandemic and have proven to be a very effective and essential part of the wider health service. The focus on bolstering our workforce is positive news.’


PHARMACy IN FOCus - 35


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