A Royal College for pharmacy? Let’s raise our expectations

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has announced its intention to become the Royal College of Pharmacy, subject to a vote by its members early next year. What would this mean for us as community pharmacists? Who cares? Well, I do, but that’s no surprise.

Declaration of interest – I’m currently chair of the RPS Scottish Pharmacy Board. I’m also a practising community pharmacist and independent prescriber, and much of my 25-year career has been spent making the Pharmacy First concept a reality. I’m passionate about what we do for our communities. We are an amazing health resource – accessible, right where people need us.

Being a community pharmacist should also be an amazing experience: an enriching, lifelong career. Sometimes it is, but often it is not. You could cite many reasons for this, some of which include a lack of support in a demanding role and limited opportunities for professional development.

We look with envy to other sectors, the grass often appearing much greener. Many talented people leave for pastures new. 

The vision

A big part of the vision for the proposed Royal College of Pharmacy is that of assessment and credentialing at different career stages. This offers structured competency frameworks from foundation level through advanced practice to consultant level.

These levels of practice are assessed via portfolios of evidence and credentials given to those who meet the standards. The frameworks that underpin the levels of practice focus on clinical, patient-facing skills, leadership, education and research. 

Think about the depth and complexity of what we do in community pharmacy. What do we feel we need to support us in that role as clinicians in the community? I would argue that our expectations are set way too low. This kind of structured career progression should not be the sole preserve of our colleagues working in primary and secondary care. We deserve it too. 

Let me give you a glimpse of what this could look like if, as a sector, we embrace the credentialing model currently provided by the RPS and central to the new Royal College of Pharmacy vision. 

• Clinical supervision: Community pharmacists work in isolation most of the time. This is at best unhelpful and at worst dangerous when we are performing increasingly complex consultations. We should all have dedicated time with experienced colleagues (pharmacists and others) who provide advice, support, assessment and feedback on our developing practice, especially where diagnosis and prescribing are involved.

• Education and training: Community pharmacists should be recognised formally for the support we provide to future pharmacists and the wider profession. We should be resourced to develop our role in undergraduate mentorship and in the way we support pharmacist colleagues – be that in their early careers, developing their prescribing practice or beyond. Formal links with universities and postgraduate education providers should be the norm.

• Research: Involvement in practice research and having posters and papers published should be part of our professional landscape. We have so many contacts with patients; we are a mine of healthcare data and experiences. We should be sharing that with the wider healthcare and policy world, showing what we can do for patients and the public, how it deserves to be recognised and funded properly.

We absolutely should have consultant level credentialled pharmacists working in community, providing leadership to our sector and the wider NHS. An army of advanced level credentialled community pharmacists would form the bulk of our workforce, and together these groups of senior practitioners would support our foundation level colleagues taking their first steps post registration into long, fulfilling careers as proud community pharmacists.

Moving closer

This vision will only be achieved with hard work and persistence. It will take more than a Royal College alone. Employers, governments, our regulator and education providers will have to find ways of working better together. A new Royal College of Pharmacy must be completely collaborative in its approach – the glue that binds our great but often divided profession together, the catalyst for conversations between professionals and organisations.

A safe harbour, not an ivory tower. 

The aim here is not to ‘take over’ but to ‘move closer’. Practical examples might include how a future Royal College of Pharmacy works with our fantastic special interest groups such as the British Oncology Pharmacy Association to improve patient care. We all see the same patients, right?

In community pharmacy, we need the support of our specialist colleagues in detecting cancer symptoms early and also in giving the best quality of care to cancer survivors taking ongoing medication in the community. The Royal College model could help make this collaborative working and sharing of expertise a routine reality.

So, the Royal College of Pharmacy… it sounds good, doesn’t it? But will it be good? It will be as good as we make it. Let’s start with a ‘yes’ vote in 2025 and get to work.