The Royal Pharmaceutical Society yesterday launched a new foundation pharmacist framework at its annual conference.

The framework sets out the capabilities that will be needed by foundation pharmacists to meet the growing demand for increasingly complex clinical care across a range of settings. It has a greater focus on clinical capabilities including preparation for prescribing.

It has been developed with senior stakeholders on the Pharmacy Education Governance Oversight Board and informed by more than 800 responses from across the profession to a role analysis questionnaire. It is an important step towards designing the future curriculum, syllabus and assessment for foundation pharmacists across the UK, said the Society.

The RPS will now build on the framework and lead on the development of a UK Foundation Curriculum, working closely with employers, education leaders and training providers. This is expected to be completed by summer 2020 and will inform the design and delivery of future foundation programmes across the UK.

Both the foundation curriculum and programmes will focus on the achievement of outcomes rather than the completion of set period of training. This will offer foundation pharmacists much greater flexibility in developing at their own pace, the professional body added.

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Gail Fleming, RPS director of education, said: “With the profession and pharmacy employers seeing an unprecedented demand for clinical knowledge and skills, it is vital we move towards a sustainable, funded national model for foundation pharmacist training.”

Professor Peter Kopelman, chair of the Pharmacy Education Governance Oversight Board, said: “The RPS Foundation Pharmacist Framework is the first stage towards identifying standards applicable to the desired outcomes from foundation training for all pharmacists. The board will continue to work with key stakeholders across the profession to assure the quality of a future curriculum and assessment strategy.”

Duncan Craig, chair of the Pharmacy Schools Council, added: “There is a recognition that the profession can and should do more to support pharmacists at the early stages of their careers post-graduation, so we see the development of the RPS Foundation Pharmacist Framework as a significant step forward on this important pathway.”