The Pharmacy Board of Australia engaged us to develop accreditation standards for pharmacist prescriber training programs.

Throughout 2023, we conducted public consultation with a wide range of stakeholders to inform the development of the new standards. The consultation has concluded, and the standards have been sent to Pharmacy Board of Australia signalling completion of the project.

On this page:

Background

The Pharmacy Board of Australia has undertaken extensive work to investigate the capacity for competent and safe prescribing by pharmacists. They issued a statement on this work in 2019.

The development of accreditation standards have been informed by the NPS Prescribing Competencies Framework (2021) which describes the expectations for all health professional prescribers.

The standards for training programs for pharmacist prescribers will equip pharmacists with the knowledge, skills and attributes to be competent and safe prescribers within their scope of practice as authorised under relevant legislation.

The review process and outcomes

Our approach to developing accreditation standards is always robust, transparent, and consultative. This work followed our usual processes for developing accreditation standards.

Under the guidance of Governance and Stakeholder Reference Groups, we developed a set of Accreditation Standards including a Performance Outcomes Framework and an Evidence Guide for education providers.

We also established an accreditation system to accredit education programs similar to how we accredit pharmacy degree programs or intern training programs.

Governance

A governance group, chaired by Associate Professor Sue Kirsa oversaw the work. A stakeholder reference group, chaired by Professor Lisa Nissen, informed and advised on development of the standards.

Research

We engaged a subject matter expert pharmacist. They undertook a literature review, environmental scan and competency mapping of pharmacist prescribing internationally and in Australia.

Stakeholders

We consulted with key stakeholders to help us develop:

  • new standards
  • performance outcomes framework
  • an evidence guide
  • an accreditation system
  • indicative role descriptions.

Our stakeholders included:

  • pharmacists and pharmacy students
  • education providers
  • pharmacy professional organisations
  • aged care providers and professionals
  • consumers
  • First Nations people and organisations
  • health professionals.

Feedback and consultations

We gathered feedback from our stakeholders through methods including:

  • an online survey
  • in person at forums
  • in writing
  • during one-on-one interviews.

Consultation and feedback documents

Environmental scan and literature review

This review summarises literature relevant to the development of accreditation standards for education and training programs for pharmacist prescribers in Australia. It includes a review of international and national literature of pharmacist prescribing, and accreditation standards of other prescribing health professions.

Consultation 1

9 March 2023 to 10 April 2023

We received feedback from more than 179 people during the first consultation period, which included input from 53 forum attendees, 103 survey responses, 9 written submissions, and 14 one-on-one interviews.

Consultation 2 

7 September 2023 to 28 September 2023

We received feedback from 90 stakeholders during the second consultation period, which included input from 67 forum attendees, 18 survey responses, and 5 written submissions.

Draft Accreditation Standards

Draft Performance Outcomes

Project governance

Governance Group members

A/Prof Sue Kirsa, APC Chair

Prof Lisa Nissen, Stakeholder Reference Group Chair

Emeritus Prof Nicholas Glasgow, APC Board Member (Medical practitioner)

Prof Rhonda Clifford, APC Board Member

A/Prof Kirstie Galbraith, APC Board Member

Prof Nick Shaw, APC Accreditation Commitee Chair

Mr Brett Simmonds, Pharmacy Board of Australia Chair

Ms Bronwyn Clark, APC Chief Executive Officer

Stakeholder Reference Group members

Prof Lisa Nissen

Stakeholder Reference Group Chair

HERA Program Director Centre for the Business and Economics of Health, University of Queensland

Dr Amy Page

Pharmacy Board of Australia practitioner member

Dr Sue Martin

Pharmacy Board of Australia community member

Dr David Newby

Council of Pharmacy Schools (CPS)

A/Prof Andrew Hale

Council of Pharmacy Schools (CPS)

Ms Suzanna Nash

Australasian College of Pharmacy (ACP)

Mr Mike Stephens

National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (NACCHO)

Ms Kerri Barwick

Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA)

Ms Zoe Girdis

Pharmacy Guild of Australia (PGA)

Ms Kylee Hayward

Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA)

Mr Flynn Swift

National Association of Pharmacy Students Australia (NAPSA)

Mr Gary West

Pharmaceutical Defence Limited (PDL)

Mr Peter Grimmer

Optometry Council of Australia and New Zealand (OCANZ)

Ms Pauline McQuoid

Medwise, New Zealand

Prof Sharon Bentley

Deputy Dean, Faculty of Health and Director, Centre for Vision & Eye Research Queensland University of Technology

A/Prof Bhavini Patel

Executive Director Medicines Management, NT Health

Ms Sok Leng Cam

Practising pharmacist

Ms Sara McCarthy

Practising pharmacist

Ms Bree Armstrong

Practising pharmacist

Mr Sean Mutchmor

Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) representative

Ms Patrice Harald

First Nations person and consumer representative

Ms Dani Brown

Consumer representative

Project team:

Ms Bronwyn Clark

APC CEO

Ms Glenys Wilkinson

APC Deputy CEO

Ms Claire Bekema

APC Director Standards Development

Ms Kate Spencer

APC Director Accreditation and Assessments

Ms Tiara Miller

APC Administrative Support Officer

Dr Lynda Cardiff

SME consultant

Dr Karen Bettenay

SME consultant

Contact information

For any enquiries about the development of the accreditation standards, please contact us at standards@pharmacycouncil.org.au.

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