The primary objective of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland is to protect and safeguard patients and members of the public by promoting the highest standards of education, conduct and performance amongst registered pharmacists.

The Government’s White Paper Trust, Assurance and Safety (2007) directed that all 13 health and social care regulators in the UK introduce a system of revalidation where ‘registrants can periodically demonstrate their continued fitness to practise’ and ‘that its intensity and frequency needs to be proportionate to the risks inherent in the work in which each practitioner is involved.’

In developing our revalidation proposals, the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland has always been mindful that revalidation should be proportionate to risk and targeted towards those areas of practice which pose the greatest risk.

To this end, in May 2010, the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland commissioned research from University of Manchester to provide some evidence-based guidance to support development of risk-based revalidation.

Specifically the research focussed on:

1. mapping the risks associated with different areas of pharmacy practice
2. investigating the risks associated with return-to-practice and consider how these can be minimised;
3. understanding perceptions of risk and models for risk management in revalidation.

The University reported on this research in June 2011 and a copy of the final report can be downloaded here and a shorter Executive Summary here.

The Pharmaceutical Society is working in partnership with the other regulators in the UK to progress the development of a suitable revalidation system. It is envisaged that the Pharmaceutical Society’s system will build on the current system for CPD. 

Any proposals that are developed for a new revalidation system will be consulted on.