The Clinical pharmacists in general practice education assessments include e-assessments, workplace-based assessments, a portfolio and a statement of progression at the end of the education. Assessments take place at three stages within the education programme and some assessments are directly linked to modules. The figure below provides an overview of Clinical pharmacists in general practice education,including the stages of assessment.
All clinical pharmacists in general practice education must complete all three stages of assessment.
Pharmacists on Clinical pharmacists in general practice education will record their progress with assessments on the general practice activity series tracker.
Assessments cannot be substituted with local assessments or assessments completed as part of a diploma or independent prescribing course.
This assessment prepares clinical pharmacists in general practice for their patient-facing role. All clinical staff must pass the CPPE Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults level 2 assessment, in addition to any local training.
Clinical pharmacists will complete the General practice – the fundamentals of working with GPs e-course and are expected to pass the e-assessment as part of Module 1.
Completing the Consultation skills for pharmacy practice e-assessment enables pharmacists to check their progress and ability to meet the competencies set out in the practice standards for consultation skills.
This e-assessment covers the statutory and mandatory training for Equality, diversity and human Rights - Level 1.
Pharmacists will start assessment stage 2 within six months of starting the Clinical pharmacists in general practice education programme.
The case-based discussion (CbD) assessments have been designed to assess clinical pharmacists in general practice undertaking the patient-facing clinical role described in the General practice forward view. It is assessed by clinical mentors during local learning sets.
The MSF is based on the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) multisource feedback tool and provides holistic feedback on professionalism and clinical performance. This process involves a professional discussion with an education supervisor and is repeated six months later in assessment stage 3.
Pharmacists will start assessment stage 3 within 6-12 months of starting the Clinical pharmacists in general practice education programme. All stage 3 assessments must be completed within 15 months of starting the pathway.
A second CbD is completed in this assessment stage. This is assessed by clinical mentors during local learning sets.
A second MSF is part of assessment stage 3 so that clinical pharmacists can address their action plan from the first MSF assessment and receive feedback on their practice from their education supervisor.
Two consultations are directly observed in practice and assessed using the medicines-related consultation assessment tool (MR-CAT). Clinical pharmacists in general practice will need to demonstrate competence for both consultations.
The PSQ provides patient feedback on the clinical pharmacist’s key consultation skills and is based on the RCGPs PSQ. Clinical pharmacists in general practice write a short reflective essay (800-1000 words) on their reflections on their feedback.
Some assessments are linked to specific modules so the timing of these assessments will depend on when pharmacists study these modules.
Each HEI will provide more information about these assessments to clinical pharmacists who are enrolled on Module 2.
The Clinical examination and procedural skills assessment record allows clinical pharmacists in general practice to collect evidence of practical experience for common clinical procedures. This assessment involves three supervised attempts for each clinical examination or procedure, two case studies and discussion, and a short reflective essay.
Senior clinical pharmacists will undertake a service improvement project as part of Module 7
At the end of the 18-month pathway, all clinical pharmacists in general practice education will complete a statement of progression. This statement reflects the role progression and educational progress clinical pharmacists have made with the learning outcomes and core capabilities and competencies in the curriculum for Clinical pharmacists in general practice education.
Evidence will be reviewed by a CPPE reviewer who will provide feedback on examples of good practice and suggestions for further development.
