RPS, CPPE collaborate on pathway to recognise advance pharmacist practice in England

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in collaboration with Health Education England’s Centre for Advancing Practice and the Centre for Pharmacy Post Graduate Education (CPPE) will provide a pharmacy-specific professional development pathway for advanced pharmacist practice.

Successful completion of the pathway, assured through the RPS Core Advanced Pharmacist Curriculum assessment, will result in pharmacists being recognized by RPS as an advanced pharmacist, along with the awarding of HEE’s Centre for Advancing Practice’s ‘Advanced’ digital badge, demonstrating the quality assurance of their advanced practice preparation to patients, families, carers, and other healthcare professionals.

The first participants in a fully funded, supported e-portfolio pathway to recognize advanced pharmacist practice in England will get underway in March 2023

This new programme is an important step in creating a clear postgraduate career structure for pharmacists in England.

The innovative approach provides funding from HEE’s Centre for Advancing Practice in 2023-24 for 300 pharmacists in England who are near to, or already practicing at, an advanced level, to enable them to receive supervision and support in building their RPS Core Advanced e-Portfolio from CPPE’s pharmacy education supervisors.

They will work to evidence the outcomes set out in the RPS Core Advanced Pharmacist Curriculum which is focused on delivering holistic care autonomously to people with complex needs.

They will also work to demonstrate the leadership and management, education, and research capabilities of advanced practitioners who are expected to be able to lead service change and improve outcomes for groups of patients.

Eligible pharmacists are those working in advanced practice roles who successfully apply through HEE’s Centre for Advancing Practice for its ePortfolio (supported) Route, including pharmacists who have completed the Primary care pharmacy education pathway with CPPE.

Places for pharmacists in cohorts 1-3 of the ePortfolio (supported) Route have been allocated, and the Centre is planning to make further places available for pharmacists in subsequent cohorts later this year.

Joseph Oakley, Associate Director for Education and Development, at RPS said: “We are proud to have led on this exciting collaboration which marks a milestone in recognising and assuring advanced pharmacist practice in England and we are delighted to be working with our partners on this.

"This pathway strikes the perfect balance between allowing pharmacists to develop specific advanced pharmacist capabilities whilst ensuring alignment with other healthcare professions. It also provides pharmacists with the opportunity to evidence their advanced practice through work-based experiential learning and assessment with the support of a high-quality educational supervisor.”