19 November 2015
Australian Pharmacy Council reveals Australia’s first Advanced Practice Pharmacists 

The Australian Pharmacy Council congratulates all pharmacists who participated in the Credentialing of advanced practice pharmacists pilot program.
Today we reveal the full list of the 28 pharmacists credentialed as Australia’s first Advanced Practice Pharmacists (Adv. Prac. Pharm.).
Throughout 2015, the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) has been undertaking a Credentialing of advanced practice pharmacists pilot program.
The pilot uses the Advanced Pharmacy Practice Framework (APPF) for Australia as a tool for evaluating practitioner performance and guiding development.

Evaluation against the APPF is a professional development initiative that supports the professional growth of all pharmacists, in all pharmacy practice environments.
All participants received a comprehensive, individualised ‘Outcomes and Feedback’ report that highlighted their strengths, and also areas for potential future professional development.

The report will be a helpful tool in complying with the CPD plan requirements in the newly revised CPD registration standard of the Pharmacy Board of Australia. Deirdre Criddle, WA medication management and complex care coordinator pharmacist was one of the 28 pharmacists credentialed.
Commenting on her Outcomes and Feedback report, Deirdre said:
“It’s great to be given an honest reflection not only on where I have come from but sage advice on where to next. The feedback gives context to the outcomes, and really validates the process.”

Dr Andy Hale, advanced pharmacist pre-assessment clinic RBWH who was evaluated at Advanced- Stage 2 said:
“On reflection, I was pleased with my outcome. The evaluation is fair and robust, and the credential isn’t being given away. It is difficult to achieve, and rightly so. It was clear from the process that candidates are evaluated on the evidence presented and nothing else.”

Associate Professor Ian Coombes, Chair of the APC Advanced Practice Credentialing Committee said:

“For professional development, there is no better way to identify your practice strengths and also your opportunities for further development, through an independent evaluation process against a national framework.
Your portfolio is evaluated on your evidence of professional impact, not your reputation.

” The list of credentialed advanced practice pharmacists is available on the APC website at: www.pharmacycouncil.org.au/pharmacists/australian-nz-pharmacists/register-of-credentialed-pharmacists/

18 November 2015
UK ‘face’ of advanced pharmacy practice visiting Australia

The Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) is delighted to announce the upcoming visit to Australia by Dr Catherine Duggan, Director of Professional Development and Support at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS).
The APC is co-funding Dr Duggan’s visit to Australia with The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) for a series of meetings and engagements.
Registrations are now open via the APC website for Dr Duggan’s presentation at the University of Sydney Faculty of Pharmacy on 3 December.
Dr Duggan will also be presenting at Medicines Management 2015, the 41st SHPA National Conference (MM2015), in Melbourne in December.
Dr Duggan is the international member on the APC Advanced Practice Credentialing Committee (APCC) via a Memorandum of Understanding between RPS and the APC.

APC CEO Bronwyn Clark said:
“Catherine will be speaking about international perspectives on advanced practice and professional development at her presentation on 3 December.
I am grateful to the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Sydney for hosting the event.”

Throughout 2015, the APC has been undertaking a Credentialing of advanced practice pharmacists pilot program.
The pilot uses the Advanced Pharmacy Practice Framework (APPF) for Australia as a tool for evaluating practitioner performance and guiding development.

“Catherine’s experience in implementing a program of advanced practice development and recognition in Great Britain through the work of the RPS Faculty is seen as world-leading” said APCC Chair Dr Ian Coombes.
“Catherine has been extremely generous in sharing the RPS’ learnings from their roll out of the Faculty, and is an invaluable contributor to our advanced practice credentialing pilot program in Australia.”

SHPA President Professor Michael Dooley said:
“We are very pleased to welcome Catherine to Australia and have her join us at MM2015. Advanced practice recognition is seen as an important professional development opportunity for our members.
I thank the APC for their support of Catherine’s session at MM2015 and for bringing her to Australia.”

Dr Duggan’s presentation at MM2015 will be on ‘The Great Britain experience: advanced practice pharmacist credentialing’ on Saturday 5 December.
Dr Duggan will also be presenting a practice portfolio workshop with Monash University’s Kirstie Galbraith at the conference.
TO REGISTER for Dr Duggan’s presentation at the University of Sydney, visit the APC website: www.pharmacycouncil.org.au

9 November 2015
Australia’s first Advanced Practice Pharmacists

The Australian Pharmacy Council has announced the outcomes of the Credentialing of advanced practice pharmacists pilot program to all 43 participants.
Certificates and ‘Feedback and Outcome’ Reports are being distributed by post after all pilot participants were notified by email over the past week. The outcomes includes those pharmacists credentialed as Australia’s first Advanced Practice Pharmacists (Adv. Prac. Pharm.).

Throughout 2015, the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) has been undertaking a Credentialing of advanced practice pharmacists pilot program.
The pilot uses the Advanced Pharmacy Practice Framework (APPF) for Australia as a tool for evaluating practitioner performance and guiding development.
The pharmacists taking part in the pilot program demonstrated the impact of their practice via a portfolio of their training, achievements and experience. Each portfolio was independently evaluated by panels of trained credentialing evaluators.

The evaluators included both pharmacists and other health professionals such as doctors and nurses.

“Congratulations to all participants in the pilot. Recognition at any stage, whether it be at Advanced – Stage 1, Advanced – Stage 2 or Advanced – Stage 3 (credential level) is a significant achievement”, said Australian Pharmacy Council President, Debra Rowett.

“This pilot represents a substantial commitment by APC to the broader community, and I would like to thank all those people involved. APC will now be undertaking further evaluation of the pilot.”

67% of the pilot participants were evaluated at Advanced – Stage 3 (credential level) and 33% of the participants were evaluated at Advanced – Stage 2 (consolidation level).
Dr Ian Coombes, Inaugural Chair of the APC Credentialing Committee, said:

”The pilot program is a fantastic foundation for the future of formal professional development and recognition of pharmacists in Australia.”

Dr Shane Jackson, a member of APC’s Credentialing Committee and also Chair of the Pharmacy Practitioner Development Committee (PPDC) that developed the APPF said:

“What a journey! It has been extremely satisfying to see the profession first develop an advanced practice framework in 2012, and then show it can be used in a constructive way to evaluate practitioner performance and support professional development and ultimately, recognise the achievements of the practitioner.”

The outcome and feedback report identifies professional strengths and opportunities for further development against the 30 competencies in the APPF.
The report will be a helpful tool in complying with the learning plan requirements in the revised CPD registration standard recently announced by the Pharmacy Board of Australia.

TABLE OF CONTENTS   •   Notice to Pharmacists   •   Have your say –Pharmacy Council of NSW 2015 Election   •   Important changes to information provided to complainants and employers   Notice to Pharmacists Have your say – Pharmacy Council of NSW 2015 Election By now all pharmacists working in NSW should have received the papers for the Pharmacy Council’s 2015 election. Nominations have been received from 11 local pharmacists to fill 5 positions. The Council encourages you to have your say and vote. Elected members make up 5 of the 7 pharmacist positions on the Council and should represent a cross-section of all registered pharmacists with NSW as their principle place of practice. The primary legislative role of the Pharmacy Council of NSW is protection of the public, so the attributes that make a good Council member are a high degree of professionalism, a strong sense of ethical practice and behaviour, and the desire to contribute to helping pharmacists be the best practitioners possible. Only 16% of NSW pharmacists voted at the last election and the hope is for a higher participation rate this time around. Completed ballot papers need to be received by the NSW Electoral Commission by 12.00pm, Monday 30 November 2015. All inquiries concerning this election should be directed to Diana Kosseifi at the NSW Electoral Commission, by phone (02) 9290 5924. Any questions regarding the roles and functions of the Council and the responsibilities of Council members can be directed to the Council’s Executive Officer, Nina Beeston, by phone (02) 9219 0284.   Important changes to information provided to complainants and employers In November 2014 the NSW Parliament passed the Health Practitioner Regulation Legislation Amendment Act 2014.  That legislation made a range of amendments to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) (the National Law) including amendments requiring each of the health professional Councils to: 1. notify complainants of the outcome of their complaints where their complaints have been managed by the Council (rather than the Health Care Complaints Commission); and 2. provide employers with information about conditions imposed on registered health practitioners’ registration. Those amendments commenced on 1 November 2015. What does this mean for you? 1.  Notifying complainants of outcomes In circumstances where the Pharmacy Council manages a complaint against a pharmacist by way of: • a Council inquiry, • a health assessment (including any subsequent impaired registrants panel process), • a performance assessment (including any subsequent performance review panel process), • counselling, • referral to another body (eg PSU, Medicare, TGA) or • by deciding to take no further action, the Council will be required to notify the complainant of the actions taken and the outcome. While the Pharmacy Council is required to notify the complainant of these actions and the outcome, it is not required to notify of the detail of conditions imposed, nor is the Council required to provide complainants with the written reasons for a decision or any confidential reports prepared for the purposes of Council processes. The only exception to this rule is following a Council inquiry where the Council is required by section 148H of the National Law to provide the complainant with a copy of the written statement of decision. Of course, any conditions or other information recorded on the national register of health practitioners is publicly available and complainants will have access to that information. 2.  Notifying employers of conditions From 1 November 2015, the Pharmacy Council is required to notify a practitioner’s employer or employers whenever the Council: • imposes conditions on the practitioner’s registration, • amends conditions on the practitioner’s registration, and • removes conditions on the practitioner’s registration. Health conditions that are not publicly available From 1 November, the Pharmacy Council must notify employers (including the operator of any hospital which has accredited a practitioner to provide services) about all conditions imposed on a practitioner’s registration including health conditions. The obligation also arises whenever existing conditions are amended or lifted irrespective of when those conditions were imposed. The obligation to notify employers applies despite any previous understanding or expectation that conditions would be treated as confidential. Whilst current non-public health conditions will not be automatically disclosed to employers, employers are to be notified if any of those existing conditions are removed or altered and if any new conditions are imposed. An employer who receives information from the Council concerning non-public conditions is obliged by law to treat that information as confidential and use it only for the purposes of supervising the relevant practitioner during the course of his or her employment or for the purposes of ensuring the safety of patients. Conditions that are publicly available Most conditions on practitioners’ registration are publicly available via the online national register kept at www.ahpra.gov.au  In addition, in many cases those conditions have been imposed on a practitioner’s registration through a public process such as a Tribunal hearing. In circumstances where conditions are already in the public domain, these will also be made available to employers and in fact this has been standard practice for many years. This information is also available at the Pharmacy Council website. Please contact the Council on 1300 197 177 or by email to mail@pharmacycouncil.nsw.gov.au if you have any questions about these changes.                 You are receiving this email as a registered pharmacist with the Pharmacy Board of Australia, or other stakeholder. This newsletter is sent to you as part of the regulatory function of thePharmacy Council of New South Wales. Should you not wish to receive such newsletters in the future, please use the Unsubscribe button below. Unsubscribe   Level 6, North Wing 477 Pitt St Sydney, NSW, 2000 © 2015 Pharmacy Council of New South Wales