Community pharmacists are taking longer to get to grips with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's (RPS) faculty than other parts of the profession, the pharmacy body has said.

Seventeen of the 128 pharmacists who had become members of the professional recognition programme since October were from the community sector, compared to 63 from hospitals and 35 from academia, the RPS said.

RPS director of professional development and training Catherine Duggan said she was not surprised by the low number of community pharmacists who had achieved membership because this required applicants to submit a portfolio of their achievements. Most community pharmacists did not have experience of this process, she said.

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	Community pharmacists had shown "huge support" for the faculty programme but were taking longer to submit their portfolio than those from other sectors of the profession, Ms Duggan told C+D on Tuesday (April 8).

"Of course it would be better if we had a bigger proportion [of community pharmacists], but the small number that have submitted [portfolios] does not reflect the enthusiasm in the sector. It's going to be a slow trickle to begin with," she said.

The RPS needed to "devote even more support" to help community pharmacists compile their portfolios, as they were used to a "different culture" of assessment, Ms Duggan said.

Three hundred and sixty five community pharmacists have already accessed the resources, which have been available to all RPS members since June. Of the 694 pharmacists currently building their portfolio to be assessed for membership, 187 were community pharmacists, the society said.

Ms Duggan said she was "heartened" by the interest from community pharmacists and the RPS was doing its best to support them. It planned to offer specific support toolkits for community pharmacists, as well as to make faculty members into "local champions" who could mentor their colleagues, she added.

After pharmacists have made use of the faculty resources, they can have their portfolio reviewed by two assessors to achieve one of three levels of qualification as a faculty member: advanced stage I, advanced stage II or fellowship.

As well as pharmacists from community, hospitals and academia, RPS members from primary care, industry and government organisations had also become members of the faculty, the society said. Eighty per cent of members were from England, 14 per cent from Scotland and 6 per cent from Wales, it said.

In October, the RPS told C+D it intended the faculty to be recognised as a model for revalidation within three years. At the time, more than 1,000 pharmacists had been given access to the learning tools to prepare them for the assessment process.

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