Supporting educational supervision in pharmacy

Dr Nikkie Umaru, Pharmacy Foundation Head of School, Initial Education and Training Lead was invited to speak about the Pharmacy Educational Supervisors Network she has helped establish for the east of England.

Read more from Nikkie below.

There is always a buzz at the Clinical Pharmacy Congress (CPC), and it’s become a ‘must attend’ event in the calendar. CPC delivers a packed and organised agenda and this year I presented on the educational supervisor peer support group we established in the region.

Pharmacy is currently undergoing a substantial change in areas including education, policy and governance to enable the delivery of quality patient care and services by a skilled and resourced workforce. Education and training reforms are well underway to rapidly upskill the workforce. The General Pharmacy Council’s (GPhC) has published new standards for the initial education and training of pharmacy technicians in 2017 and similar for pharmacists in 2021. The fundamental provision within the reforms is strengthened ‘hands-on’ learning for the pharmacy workforce. Educational supervisors are key to help provide this and should be supported to do so.

Following several regional engagement workshops we set up the pharmacy educational supervisors network for the east of England, to provide a collaborative forum for discussions on the practice of educational supervision. The network also provides a forum to share established best practice, support and spread innovation and collective support for members in discharging their supervision roles.

Compelled by the principles of equality, diversity and inclusivity principles, network members are enabled to participate with confidence in learning, sharing, challenging, and supporting. Currently at over 80 members and growing across the health care sectors, there is flexibility to develop and evolve the network in response to the needs of its members. The presentation at CPC was well received prompting several follow-up discussions on the challenges, benefits and fundamentals to establish and sustain a similar peer support group in other regions.

To find out more about the network contact pharmacy.eoe@hee.nhs.uk