Academics slam plans to cap student numbers
Professional Seven professors, deans and heads of UK pharmacy schools have written an open letter to C+D dismissing proposals to manage student numbers as "vague and inadequate"
Cutting student intake across pharmacy schools is "in no-one's interest" and will do nothing to improve quality in the sector, pharmacy school chiefs have warned.
Seven leading professors, deans and heads of UK pharmacy schools voiced opposition to a blanket cut on intake, stressing that funds should be geared towards the highest quality universities, in a letter to C+D this weekend (November 9).
They called on the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to commission an independent review of long-term planning for the pharmacy workforce.
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"There is little confidence that any intervention to control graduate numbers will enhance the student experience, graduate capability and patient care," seven academic leaders argued in a letter to C+D |
 More on the number of pharmacists
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The HEFCE stressed that its consultation on student numbers, launched in September and due to close on Friday (November 15), was the first stage of an "open and wide-ranging process" to manage oversupply. |
Overqualified for the positionBut the academics dismissed the proposals in it, including placing an annual limit on the number of students who could be recruited onto MPharm programmes, as "vague and inadequate".
They warned that pharmacy schools might be forced to make "uncomfortable" closures and mergers, as seen in the medical profession. This might be the only way to ensure the UK remained "world-leading" and globally competitive in pharmacy education, they stressed.
"While control of graduate numbers by some mechanism may well be required, there is little confidence that any intervention will be applied in a way that enhances quality of student experience, graduate capability and, ultimately, patient care," argued the academic leaders, including the University of Nottingham's school of pharmacy head Clive Roberts and Aston University pharmacy school head Yvonne Perrie.
They called for a survival of the fittest approach, where schools with the highest quality were recognised with greater funding. "We need to acknowledge openly that some school produce graduates whose subsequent General Pharmaceutical Council qualifying exam success rates at first sitting are far below other schools," they said.
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The school heads also urged pharmacists to respond to the HEFCE consultation, as it would affect the appeal of the profession to the best students for "decades to come". The HEFCE stressed that its consultation would establish the principles for how to respond to an oversupply of pharmacists, which would inform further work. The board will meet in February to decide the next steps. "We do not have a firm view at this stage on the future direction of travel, but we are clear that it will be especially important to consider the impact of any decision on the wider population, patients in the NHS and current and prospective students who wish to pursue professional careers in pharmacy," said a HEFCE spokesperson. Read the full letter here. |
The signatoriesProfessor Gary Baxter, head, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University Professor Duncan Craig, director, School of Pharmacy, University College London Dr Andrew Husband, dean, School of Pharmacy, Durham University Professor Yvonne Perrie, head, School of Pharmacy, Aston University Professor Nigel Ratcliffe, head, School of Pharmacy, Keele University Professor Clive Roberts, head, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham Professor Stephen Ward, head, School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Bath |
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