EXCLUSIVE

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has pledged to investigate discrepancies in pre-reg training quality between different regions and sectors.

GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin vowed to look into findings from the regulator's pre-reg survey, published last week (June 9), which suggested that 18 per cent of pre-reg students in London last year rated the quality of support received as ‘poor' or ‘very poor', compared to only 2 per cent in Scotland.

The survey of 905 recent graduates, conducted in November, found that 12 per cent of community pharmacist trainees described their placements as ‘poor', compared to 7 per cent of hospital pharmacist trainees.

The GPhC must question whether the discrepancies represent "a significant difference in terms of quality and outcomes", says chief executive Duncan Rudkin	More on training Lack of funding will hinder training overhaul, warns sector GPhC outlines plans to overhaul pharmacy training Integrated pre-reg training to drive up standards
	In an exclusive interview with C+D on Friday (June 13), Mr Rudkin said it was important to understand whether these figures represented "a significant difference in terms of quality and outcomes".

"I'm not sure [the variations are] surprising, as pharmacies are very different in different parts of the country and communities," Mr Rudkin said. "The way in which pre-reg training is managed in Scotland is different to England, and the pharmacy context is different."

The GPhC plans to run pre-reg surveys this year and next year. Mr Rudkin said more research was needed to determine whether the regulator had a role to play in ironing out any quality issues.

"We will be asking people to let us know their reflections, because what we don't want is inconsistency in outcomes," he told C+D.

The GPhC's plans to set out concrete learning outcomes and standards for the initial training for pharmacists could help achieve this goal, he said. Although it was too early to say what form the standards would take, Mr Rudkin stressed there would be an "overarching emphasis" on professionalism.

In its latest council meeting on Thursday (June 12), the GPhC agreed to put in place learning outcomes by 2015 and full standards by 2016.

In October, aspiring pharmacists told C+D their careers had been jeopardised by poor-quality pre-reg placements.

	Are you satisfied with the standard of training in your area?   We want to hear your views, but please express them in the spirit of a constructive, professional debate. For more information about what this means, please click here to see our community principles and information