CPD for Pharmaceutical Assistants

Professionalism relates to the practice and conduct of a pharmaceutical assistant. It includes:  

• Acting with honesty, probity and integrity.
• Practising ethically, and legally.
• Keeping up-to-date and being knowledgeable on relevant legislation and medicines.
• Applying your knowledge and skills to ensure the patient is treated respectfully and receives safe and effective care.
• Raising and/or addressing unprofessional or unethical behaviour appropriately.
• Ensuring confidentiality and privacy, where appropriate.
• Respecting and being mindful of different cultural and social backgrounds.
• Identifying when its necessary to seek further information and advice from colleagues etc. to support decision making and practice to ensure patient safety.

Communication refers to the interaction a pharmaceutical assistant may have with colleagues, patients, members of the public, and health care professionals to ensure appropriate, safe and beneficial outcomes. It includes:

• Communicating and consulting effectively by actively listening and using effective verbal and non-verbal communication.
• Using language that is appropriate and understandable and checking for understanding.
• Respecting differing and alternative views on health care.
• Showing empathy, respect when communicating with others and being mindful of equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Communicating effectively through written communication.
• Communicating effectively and keeping up-to-date with virtual communication.
• Communicating and reporting clearly and openly with patients, colleagues and other health professionals in relation to errors.

Collaboration refers to working with others, internal and external to the pharmacy setting, to ensure a desired and safe outcome for patients and members of the public. It includes:

• Working collaboratively and effectively with colleagues, in the workplace or within a multi-disciplinary team and acknowledging and respecting their knowledge and expertise.
• Working collaboratively and effectively with other health professionals and stakeholders, including patients, members of the public, medicines suppliers and others.
• Building positive relationships with colleagues, other health professionals, patients and members of the public.
• Assisting colleagues, other health care professionals, patients, and members of the public appropriately, and acknowledging and reflecting on feedback that might be received.

Public health refers to the role of a pharmaceutical assistant in the promotion of public health. It includes:

• Informing and promoting health initiatives, health policies and guidelines to patients and members of the public.
• Keeping-up-to-date on public health resources and informing patients and members of the public on these.
• Participating in initiatives in response to national emergencies.

Pharmacy Care refers to the role of a pharmaceutical assistant in supplying and dispensing medicines safely to patients and the public. It includes:

• Ensuring that medicines are appropriately sourced and stored in the pharmacy.
• That medicines are safely supplied to patients and the public, including that patients receive the necessary consideration and advice on medicines therapy.
• Appropriate and legislative records are maintained in respect of medicines supplied.
• Keeping knowledge on medicines, medicines guidelines, and medicines legislation, current and up-to-date.

Organisation and management skills refer to how a pharmaceutical assistant organises and manages their work, and the work of others, if applicable, to ensure the effective operation of your place of work. It includes:

• Organising, managing and prioritising work, or managing others, to ensure work is completed effectively and efficiently.
• Understanding and implementing relevant policies and procedures.
• Identifying areas for improvement and committing to continuous quality improvement.
• Understanding risk as part of the role and taking measures to contribute to the mitigation of that risk.
• Working collaboratively and effectively with colleagues.
• Contributing to audit activities for the purposes of improving services or developing new services.

Learning and development refers to the maintenance of the knowledge, skill, competencies and behaviours required for practice throughout a pharmaceutical assistant’s career and the development of new ones that might be required as changes to a role and practice arise. It includes:

• Self-reflecting regularly on practice to identify any learning and development needs.
• Engaging in lifelong learning to maintain knowledge, skill, competencies and behaviours, and to develop new ones.
• Keeping up-to-date on the knowledge and skills required for the role.
• Understanding and keeping-up-to-date with health service reimbursement schemes.
• Keeping-up-to-date with advancements in technology and innovation.
• Actively and meaningfully engaging with the CPD model for pharmaceutical assistants.
• Sharing and briefing colleagues on new knowledge and skill that you obtain.
• Promoting the benefits of CPD to colleagues and peers.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is a continual process of lifelong learning which is focused on implementing learning within professional practice and improving outcomes for patients. Importantly, CPD helps ensure that you maintain the appropriate knowledge, skill, competencies and behaviours appropriate for your practice. It also helps you to keep up-to date with new developments, and their implementation, by undertaking the appropriate training and learning opportunities. 

As per the recommendations of the Mazars report, the CPD system for pharmaceutical assistants will: 

• Be a self-reflective, portfolio-based model. This is a flexible model that allows you, through self-reflection on your practice, and using CPD ‘themes’ as a guide, to determine your own learning and development needs, and how you will achieve them. The model does not specify what activities you must do as part of your CPD, or how many hours of CPD you must complete, rather, it allows you to determine what activities will be most suitable and beneficial to you and your practice.
• You will be required to record your learning activities annually on an online ePortfolio, accessed through the Irish Institute of Pharmacy (IIOP).  

The CPD model does not specify the types of courses and learning activities that you will be required to complete as part of your CPD. It is a flexible model that recognises the value in all types of learning. The types of courses and learning activities that you will be able to complete includes formal, informal and non-formal learning activities. You will be able to access certain courses and webinars through the IIOP. You may also choose to undertake training offered through other training providers. Examples of the types of CPD activities that you might undertake include: 

• Accredited training courses (e.g. through universities or other training bodies e.g. first aid).
• Non accredited training activities (e.g. workshops).
• Webinars.
• Knowledge acquired at conferences.
• On-the-job learning.
• Research relevant to your practice. For example, researching information on a new drug or carrying out research to support your practice.  

While some examples are provided in the list above, ultimately, the pharmaceutical assistant  will be best placed to determine what activities will be most beneficial to you and your practice.  

The CPD themes have been developed in consultation with the Pharmaceutical Assistants Association (PAA), and were designed to take account of your practice, and the required knowledge, skill competencies, and behaviours required in your role. For example, your consultation skills and medicines knowledge. The themes are provided to assist you when self-reflecting on your practice and to identify your learning and development needs.  

When reflecting on your practice, and assessing what your CPD needs are, you will review each of the themes and identify areas that you think will be beneficial for you to develop, either based on your current practice, and/or areas that will be beneficial to your future practice.  

The themes may also be used as part of future annual CPD requirements. For example, the requirements in a given year may require that you submit an ePortfolio cycle which demonstrates CPD activities that you have undertaken under one or more of the themes. 

Pharmaceutical assistants will be required to submit extracts from their ePortfolio on an annual basis.  

It is anticipated that standards for your CPD submission will be set on an annual basis. It is likely that you will be required to submit a certain number of ePortfolio cycles. You may be asked to submit cycles under the CPD themes. The standards to be met will be clearly communicated in advance of submission dates.