Accreditation of pharmacy courses in Northern Ireland

One of the regulatory remits of a health professional regulator is to be assured that those seeking entry to the register have achieved a satisfactory level of quality assured education in the relevant areas.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland therefore, in conjunction with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, quality assures pharmacy degree courses offered in Northern Ireland by the process of accreditation.

The Process

Reaccreditation of existing MPharm Degrees 

Typically, an existing accredited MPharm degree course will be subject to a reaccreditation visit by a joint team of experts from the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) every 5 years. However, a shorter interval between accreditation visits may be necessary dependent on any conditions set.

The accreditation panels review the quality and scope of education delivered against pre-requisite European Requirements, MPharm Accreditation Criteria and an Indicative Syllabus by reference to:

• documentation supplied by the institution in advance of the formal visit
• the pre-visit by the accreditation team leader
• the full two-day visit by the accreditation panel

The team leader then compiles a final report on the outcomes of the visit, in conjunction with the RPSGB team leader. This is provided to the relevant parties. The report is reviewed by the Education Committee of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland. If satisfied, the Committee will request the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland to grant approval for the institution to move to the next stage.

A summary of the most recent re-accreditation visit report for Queen's University Belfast School of Pharmacy is available here.

Accreditation of New mpharm providers

Institutions seeking accreditation of a new MPharm Degree must complete a seven step process before accreditation can be fully achieved.

These steps comprise:

Step 1 - Initial presentation from university

Step 2 - Consideration of business plan

Step 3 - Consideration of MPharm curriculum and resources to deliver. Passing step 3 allows a university to admit students the following year

Step 4 - Consideration of year 1 of delivery

Step 5 - Consideration of years 1 & 2 of delivery

Step 6 - Consideration of years 1-3 of delivery

Step 7 - Consideration of all 4 years and accreditation is confirmed

In 2009, the University of Ulster's application for an accredited School of Pharmacy passed Step 3 of the accreditation process.

The ACCREDITATION PANEL 

The Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland's accreditation panel comprises:

• A team leader
• A pharmacy academic team member
• A lay team member
• A pharmacy practitioner team member

The pharmacy practitioner team member is expected to provide wide experience and knowledge of the practice of pharmacy within Northern Ireland.

The lay team member is expected to provide wide experience of educational issues in Northern Ireland and wide experience of Northern Ireland health and social care provision. The main purpose of the lay member's role is to bring insight and expertise in the desirable content and delivery of a curriculum for a future pharmacist, with particular reference to the Northern Ireland patient and public interest and to ensure accreditation criteria are met.

In order that registrants and the public may have confidence in the effectiveness and impartiality of accreditation events, members of the Panel must adhere to the Code of Conduct and ensure they do not have conflicts of interest that would warrant their exclusion from a panel.

Panel members undergo relevant training and are subject to annual appraisal as to their development needs by the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland lead for accreditation.

Accreditation of pharmacist independent prescribing courses

In addition to accrediting MPharm Pharmacy courses delivered in Northern Ireland, the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland also accredits pharmacist independent prescribing courses offered in Northern Ireland. Successful completion of such courses confers eligibility to register as a pharmacist independent prescriber (annotation 'IP') on the register of pharmaceutical chemists.

Reaccreditation of such courses occurs at three yearly intervals.

Queen's University Belfast was accredited to provide pharmacist independent prescribing courses for a three year period in 2007. Following further appraisal the University was awarded a further three year accreditation in March 2010.