How can employers ensure foreign pharmacists’language skills cut the (English) mustard? Jennifer Richardson explores the issues and options
Before the end of the year there will be a new type of pharmacy opening in London. The difference? Each of the pharmacists that work in the stores will be fluent in Polish.
Apteka, the Polish pharmaceutical group behind the plans, said the Polish ex-pat community in the capital would appreciate speaking to their pharmacist in familiar tongue. But the plans have prompted questions from UK pharmacists about whether their Polish counterparts will have good enough English to serve native customers.
With the continuing expansion of the European Union, this is unlikely to be an isolated issue. Many pharmacist employers in the UK will be faced with, or have already been faced with, a candidate whose first language isn’t English. As an employer, how do you determine whether or not his or her language skills are up to the job?
All pharmacists from outside the European Economic Area (EEA, the 27 member states of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) must apply to the RPSGB to undertake the one-year Overseas Pharmacists Assessment Programme with a minimum level 7 in the International English Language Testing Scheme (IELTS), set by the British Council. But, in the words of an official health service circular: “EEA nationals… do not have to prove to the healthcare registration authorities that they have a knowledge of English in order to have their qualifications recognised in the UK.”
So the RPSGB is powerless to test EEA pharmacists’ language skills prior to their registration, it says. “The Society as a regulator has its hands tied by the directives allowing EEA nationals to work in the UK regardless of their language skills,” confirms a spokesperson. But it can and does monitor these skills once such pharmacists are in the workplace.
Martha Pawluczyk, RPSGB adjudication manager, says: “The Society’s Code of Ethics requires all registered pharmacists to communicate and work effectively with colleagues from their own and other professions, and ensure that both they and those they supervise have sufficient language competence to do this.”
Failure to comply with these requirements can have serious consequences. An RPSGB spokesperson confirms: “The Society could intervene if an individual’s fitness to practise was called into question by virtue of his/her inadequate language skills, but we would of course have to have evidence to support an allegation.”
You may be confident of your own English skills in your patient-facing role as a pharmacist but, if you’re also an employer of other pharmacists, it’s the second part of the Code of Ethics requirement that could land you in hot water. Last year, the superintendent pharmacist of a Brighton company was reprimanded for a catalogue of errors regarding the employment of an Italian pharmacist, including her failure to ensure that he was sufficiently competent in English.
The question for employers faced with candidates from the EEA is what steps are needed to ensure they have fulfilled this requirement. The RPSGB declines to give further advice. But the large multiples are turning to external providers of English tests to gain an impartial, quantifiable measure of potential employees’ competence.
Five years ago, Boots was looking for a suitable test, but found those available “alien to community pharmacy and very academic in their nature”, according to Paul Stretton, head of HR for pharmacy and opticians. “We wanted something more practical but equally stretching,” he says.
In 2003, Boots approached the English Language Centre at the University of Bath, with a view to developing a bespoke test giving exactly what it needed. The result was UBELT (University of Bath English Language Test), a test specifically designed to examine candidates on the language skills they need to work in a community pharmacy. UBELT spokesperson Kevin Renfrew says: “Essentially what you should be doing is assessing the language competency for the role of the community pharmacist.”
It has been such a success that the university has developed similar tests for GPs, nurses, dental nurses and dental hygienists, and is considering doing the same for pharmacy technicians and dispensing assistants. In total, UBELT has examined 2,500 healthcare professionals of 14 different EEA nationalities. The pass rate is 67 per cent. “Whilst no test can be 100 per cent accurate in terms of future performance, UBELT gives the best analysis of medical-specific language skills we can hope to achieve,” Mr Renfrew claims.
For employer Mr Stretton, risk management is key. “It’s all about finding pharmacists who are fully able and capable of operating in the UK, and managing risk,” he says. “We have set a threshold of a comparative quality to pass an English pharmacy degree.”
Mr Stretton prefers not to reveal this pass level, which was recommended to Boots by the University of Bath, but says: “By applying a minimum threshold we are confident that our recruits are able to effectively communicate with patients, which is absolutely critical for the pharmacist role.”
Tesco began using UBELT for its EEA pharmacists about a year ago. Training manager Karen Marsden says: “By including the UBELT test as part of the training for our pharmacy team members, we know they are competent to deal with everyday health problems in the pharmacy environment.”
But UBELT isn’t the only test available. Lloydspharmacy started using a company called Linguarma to examine the language skills of its EEA recruitment candidates three years ago. A spokesperson says of this decision: “As the pharmacist profession is a shortage occupation in the UK, it was more and more necessary to recruit from abroad, particularly within Europe. It was soon realised that language could become a barrier with some of our customers and patients.”
PDA chairman John Murphy agrees that, for employers, formally testing the English skills of foreign potential employees is an “absolute must”. Personally, he recommends IELTS and believes that pharmacists from within the EEA should have to take it prior to registration as those outside it do. For him, the necessary pharmacy-specific language skills are more soft than technical. “People don’t care what you know until they know that you care,” he says.
And Mr Stretton believes using UBELT has had extra benefits for Boots. He says: “This has really helped integrate our overseas pharmacists and improved retention rates.”
THE TEST: UBELT
Who recommends it?
Boots, Tesco
How much does it cost?
£165
What does it involve?
A 20-minute writing test, a 30-minute reading test, a 35-minute listening test and a 15-minute speaking test
Where can candidates take it?
University of Bath campus, or anywhere within Europe the employer requests
THE TEST: LINGUARAMA
Who recommends it?
Lloydspharmacy
How much does it cost?
£85
What does it involve?
A 20- to 30-minute oral telephone test, plus a 45-minute written test sent by weblink, fax or post
Where can candidates take it?
In their own home
THE TEST: IELTS
Who recommends it?
PDA chairman John Murphy
How much does it cost?
£95
What does it involve?
Two reading tests, two writing tests, a speaking test and a listening test, lasting a total of two hours and 45 minutes
Where can candidates take it?
In over 300 locations across the globe, including 34 in the UK
