Pharmacists in Scotland - five-year integrated education programme: scoping report

Advisory Group: Meeting One

The first meeting of the Advisory Group provided an opportunity to reflect on the current situation and to consider some of the high level issues from the perspective of each stakeholder group member. The two Schools and NES provided an overview of their current programmes and some of the opportunities and challenges. The GPhC stated its commitment to devolution and supporting multiple delivery models across GB. The group highlighted issues including: non-funded places and the implications for NHS Boards, aspirations of students and early career pharmacists with regards generalists and specialist roles and skills, lack of placement and experiential learning in the undergraduate courses, service demands especially in primary care, managing application and numbers and the lack of robust pharmacy workforce data. The group also discussed admission processes, the management of graduate entry and the importance of international students to the viability of the degree programmes. It was acknowledged that these key challenges sat against a backdrop of transformational change in terms of primary care and community health services, health and social care integration, the priorities identified through Realistic Medicine and the demand for clinical pharmacy input to general practice. To assist with further discussion, the Group undertook to gather information on how early years' education and training was managed in other healthcare professions.