The Royal College of Pharmacy (RCPharm) has expressed “significant concerns” over some of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)’s proposed reforms to internationally qualified pharmacist training.
In April, the GPhC launched a consultation seeking feedback on its proposals, which included plans to replace the current two-year training model for internationally qualified pharmacists with a “more streamlined, integrated one-year programme of academic learning and learning in practice”.
The regulator also proposed including independent prescribing (IP) in the one-year programme, as well as a 20-week practical placement.
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The GPhC said the draft standards aim to “enable internationally qualified pharmacists to apply to sit the Common Registration Assessment sooner, supporting quicker progression to becoming registered in Great Britain.”
In its response, published yesterday, the RCPharm highlighted “significant concerns” about the proposal to reduce training to just one year, as well as integrate IP into the “significantly reduced timeframe”.
It said the “proposals in their current format do not adequately evidence how such a move would not risk impacting on patient safety or the maintaining of standards across the profession”.
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The RCPharm noted that the 20 weeks the GPhC has proposed to allocate for placement training is “substantially shorter than the current foundation training year”.
It said there is “insufficient evidence” that internationally qualified pharmacists will be able “to meet required learning outcomes or be adequately prepared to practice safely in Great Britain” within the shortened timeframe.
And it added that the GPhC’s current proposals fail to show how integrating independent prescribing “will not put considerable additional pressures on internationally qualified pharmacists to meet all the necessary standards.”
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The RCPharm’s consultation response also considered the challenges already facing international pharmacists practicing in the UK, such as “professional isolation, visa and immigration pressures, language barriers” and the “high cost” of both living and completing their training.
“Combining these pressures with an intensified training pathway raises questions about learner wellbeing,” it said. “It is unclear from the proposals what specific considerations the GPhC has made to mitigate these risks and support candidate welfare.”
“Should strike a balance”
Despite its concerns, the RCPharm said it was in favour of shortening the period of training required for internationally qualified pharmacists where their previous experience “can be clearly verified as recent, relevant, and comparable to practice in Great Britain”.
But it stressed that such verification “must be underpinned by a robust, transparent, and consistent framework to ensure patient safety and maintain confidence in the register”.
RCPharm president Tase Oputu said the contribution of internationally qualified pharmacists is “hugely valuable” and the college welcomes “efforts to review and modernise the current registration pathway”.
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But she added that “any future model should strike a balance between recognising existing experience and ensuring pharmacists are fully supported as they adapt to a new healthcare system, regulatory framework and professional environment”.
It comes after the GPhC last week confirmed that the minimum level of study for pharmacy technicians will increase from level 3 to level 4.
The regulator said full implementation of the new standards “will not be before autumn 2029”, and its chair Gisela Abbam called the changes “an important step in ensuring that newly qualified pharmacy technicians have the knowledge, skills and judgement to prepare them for key developments in practice”.
