Society Urges Registrants Not To Delay Submission Of CPD Records

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 21 Oct 2009 - 6:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain is reminding practising pharmacists and pharmacy technicians that failure to submit their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) record to the Society when requested to do so is a breach of the Code of Ethics for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians.

Since the introduction of call and review in July, a small, but significant number of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have failed to respond to the Society's request.

Janet Flint, the Society's lead for CPD said: "Failure to comply with the request to submit CPD records will result in referral to the Society's fitness to practise department. The Society is keen to take a supportive approach and would encourage registrants who are having difficulty in meeting the submission deadline to contact the Society as soon as possible.

"The majority of those called in the first few batches have responded positively to the request and have now received their feedback.

"We are very encouraged by the high proportion of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians using the online system that was improved earlier this year. About 75% of those whose records have been called are submitting their records online. This means that we are able to complete the review process and provide feedback much faster than is possible with paper submissions. Electronic submission also avoids possible delays resulting from the ongoing postal disruption".

Notes

Standards and guidance for CPD under the Code of Ethics were approved by the Society's Council in February 2009 together with a policy for managing non-compliance. In April 2009 the Council agreed that the process of calling in and reviewing CPD records from practicing pharmacists and pharmacy technicians would begin in July 2009.

The Society's policy is that all practising registrants (pharmacists and pharmacy technicians) will have their records reviewed over a five year period. The initial batch size to receive call and review was 100, and this has now increased to 400 per fortnight. In addition to random batches within selected geographical areas, the Society is intending to purposively target those with additional responsibilities such as superintendent pharmacists, preregistration tutors and prescribers.

Non-compliance will be dealt with through the Society's non-referral process. Those who do not submit their record when requested to do so are in breach of the Code of Ethics. If they admit to breaching the Code and agree to accept advice they will receive a letter of advice from the Chief Inspector. A record of the breach is kept for five years as part of the registrant's fitness to practise history. Repeated breaches due to failure to comply with the CPD standards are likely to be referred to the disciplinary process.

Those with genuine reasons for not being able to submit their CPD record to the Society by the submission deadline are able to request an extension from the Society's CPD team and are advised to contact the Society as soon as possible after receiving the call. All extension requests must be accompanied by appropriate evidence.

Source
Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain