Understanding the Course

Benchmark is a distance learning course for anyone working, or intending to work, in a pharmacy dispensary and is accredited by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Anyone working in a pharmacy dispensary must have completed or be undertaking an appropriate training programme within three months of commencing their role.

Benchmark complies with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain’s requirements for dispensing assistant courses and has been mapped to seven units of the Pharmacy Services National Vocational Qualification level 2. Benchmark has also been mapped to the pharmacy national occupational standards as devised by Skills for health, which will replace the NVQ in autumn 2009.

Benchmark is comprised of five modules, two Student Workbooks, a Student Guide and a Supervisor Handbook.

Course content

Benchmark is divided into five modules:

1. The pharmacy and pharmacy team, including the work environment and communication with colleagues
2. The patient, covering customer service
3. The dispensary, looking at pharmaceutical stock handling
4. The prescription, covering the journey of a prescription from receipt in the pharmacy, via labelling and handing out to patients, to submission for payment
5. The pharmacy world, looking at the legislation surrounding community pharmacy, the role of organisations such as the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the National Pharmacy Association, and how practice differs according to the pharmacy sector or country you work in.

All Modules in the course include:

● Self-assessment questions for you to check your understanding of the topics
● Activities to relate the learning to practice in your pharmacy

Course assessment

Students are assessed by means of a set of multiple choice questions (MCQs) at the end of each module, which must be submitted online. The number of questions per module varies, but the pass mark for all modules is 80 per cent. Students are allowed two attempts at each set of MCQs.

Students will require internet access to complete the assessment. Students will be sent a username and password to give them access to the assessment area following registration.

Students are also required to complete a number of Workbook Exercises per module. The student’s supervising pharmacist is expected to go through the Workbooks to check that all exercises have been completed to a satisfactory standard and to sign off each module. Workbooks must be submitted to Pharmacy Projects for evaluation after module 2 and after module 5.

Course registration

To order course materials and register students for Benchmark, download and complete the application form by clicking here and post to:

C+D Pharmacy Projects,
CMP Medica,
Riverbank House,
Angel Lane,
Tonbridge, Kent
TN9 1SE

Payment

Payment can be made via credit or debit card, by cheque - made payable to UBM Information Ltd - or by phoning Pharmacy Projects on 01732 377269.

The cost of the course is £207(including VAT) per student, including all course materials and assessments.