International Journal of Healthcare Simulation

Background:

New General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) Initial Education and Training (E&T) Standards for Pharmacists set the ambition from 2026, all pharmacists will be prescribers on registration [1]. There is an increased requirement for simulation-based education (SBE) to support trainees and newly qualified pharmacists to develop key skills required for prescribing, particularly around confidence and tolerance of ambiguity. There is a need to provide this training in a ‘safe space’ without harm to patients. Development of a Pharmacy Faculty for SBE is crucial to creating a safe learning environment and facilitate increased delivery of quality simulation in pharmacy education.

Methods:

In October 2021, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) recruited 3 Regional and 1 National Pharmacy Simulation Leads who were tasked with implementing SBE within pharmacy teams across Scotland and developing faculty. Training is based on the Clinical Skills Management Educational Network (CSMEN) [2] 3-tiered approach.

Tier 1: Awareness to Simulation for Educators: an e-learning and bespoke in person ‘Pharmacy SIMstart’ course was developed and delivered to introduce the concept of SBE to pharmacy teams.

Tier 2: Introductory programme for Simulation-Based Learning Educator: an e-learning and existing 2-day in person ‘Introduction to Simulation – Making it Work’, run by the Scottish Centre for Simulation and Human Factors (SCSHF) was made more widely available to pharmacists.

Tier 3: Advanced programme for Simulation-Based Learning Educator (in development).

E-learning was accessed using the TURAS Learn system (a centralised digital platform developed by NES for products and services). Health boards were asked to identify staff who would be supporting trainees locally to attend the course relevant to their needs. The NES Pharmacy Simulation Leads linked with SBE medical education teams and simulation centres to allow Faculty to develop these newly acquired skills.

Results:

Attendees (Table 1) at these training events were from:

Table 1:

Numbers of pharmacists trained in simulation (Aug 2022)

All pharmacy sectors; Hospital, Primary Care and Community

11 out of the 14 NHS Scotland Health Boards

NES (various pharmacy (E&T) workstreams)

Excellent feedback has been received and captured by post-course questionnaires.

Conclusion:

Interest, enthusiasm, and faculty skills in SBE are growing within Scotland’s Pharmacy services, with a national and regional educational infrastructure to support pharmacy simulation being developed.

Future plans:

Implement a Faculty development framework within Pharmacy

Form specialist working groups to design scenarios to meet requirements in Pharmacy E&T

Ensure research underpins the development of Faculty and simulation delivery to inform future advancement

References

1. General Pharmaceutical Council. Standards for pharmacy education. Pharmacyregulation.org. 2021. https://www.pharmacyregulation.org/education/education-standards#Pharmacist [Accessed on 30/06/2022]

2. Clinical Skills Managed Educational Network (CSMEN). Faculty Development – Becoming a Simulation-Based Educator. Csmen.scot.nhs.uk. 2022. https://www.csmen.scot.nhs.uk/resources/online-resources/faculty-development-becoming-a-simulation-based-educator/ [Accessed on 30/06/2022]