Page 21 - P4403.59-V60_Numark Pharmacy Magazine Feb 25

Summer 2025, which is not far This is an exciting time. Those of
away, will see the first student
pharmacists graduate who will
register as prescribers in summer
2026 meeting the 2021 GPhC
Standards for Initial Education
and Training of Pharmacists.
When I registered in 1986 this
was a dream and I am jealous
of the opportunities that these
pharmacists will have in their
career. No more will they make
a recommendation and then get
another healthcare professional to
take the responsibility by signing the
prescription.
Their degree is preparing
them for “what will you
prescribe” not “what will
you recommend”.
This, however, isn’t the time for
jealousy: this is the time to support,
nurture and empower these
Foundation Year Trainees and the
newly qualified pharmacists who will
take our profession forward over the
next 40 years.
The registrants of 2026 –
the current final year student
pharmacists – are excited, enthused
and just a little scared by the
responsibility they will have on their
first day as a registrant. The changes
to undergraduate education in the
last 15 years, including experiential
learning supported by many
community pharmacy practitioners,
will better equip pharmacists of
the future for this challenge of
prescribing which enhances the roles
pharmacists have always had. They
are well aware of “scope of practice”
and that they need to “work within
their competence” and will rise to the
challenge as the experts in medicines
bringing the science and practice of
pharmacy together to better care
for patients and the public. The
2026 registrants need a structure,
including SOPs and PGDs, and the
support through experiential learning
and their foundation year to prepare
them for this challenge.
P4403.59-V60_Numark Pharmacy Magazine Feb 25.indd 21
P4403.59-V60_Numark Pharmacy Magazine Feb 25.indd 21
us who aren’t prescribers or who
haven’t used their prescribing
qualification need to support,
nurture and empower the next
generation to achieve the full
potential of this responsibility.
Don’t, however, expect the newly
registered pharmacist to run a
clinic or deal with that complex
patient who no one else has been
able to help on their first day. Their
first steps may be simple like
changing an inhaler device to one
the patient can use after they have
been assessed or substituting an
equivalent during shortages. These
are all valid prescribing actions
which will build competence and
then the prescribers can move to
more complex scenarios as they
gain that all important confidence.
Prescribing is an extension of
what pharmacist have always
done in caring for patients which
has evolved to Pharmacy First
and Pharmacy First Plus. Not only
pharmacists but all other health care
professionals will need to understand
and support this change.
There is a concern that those who
have just registered and those
who will register in summer 2025
may be left behind. We also need
to support these pharmacists to
complete their IP qualification as
soon as possible so they can take
the opportunities that this offers.
I could only dream of this
opportunity when I registered.
Seeing the reality and knowing that
the graduates are ready for this is
one of the best outcomes of my
career in academia.
21
10/01/2025 16:04:01
10/01/2025 16:04:01