As the GPhC launches its consultation on revalidation, Tess Fenn looks at how the proposed changes will affect every registered pharmacy technician

You may have seen that on the 24 April 2017, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) launched a consultation on proposals to introduce revalidation for pharmacy professionals. 

So what does this important change mean? What will we need to do as pharmacy technicians? And what even is revalidation and how does this differ from the CPD that we do now?  

Revalidation is a process that requires us to demonstrate on a regular basis that we are up to date and can practise safely and effectively. It gives extra confidence to patients that the GPhC is regularly checking that their registrants (us) are fit to practise.

From 12 May, our everyday practice will be measured against the new professional standards. The difference with revalidation is that we will need to demonstrate that we are ‘living’ these, showing how we use our reflection and learning within the professional standards to make a difference to patients, their pharmaceutical care and their use of medicines. Revalidation is also the new process that we need to follow to maintain our registration with the GPhC.

We will still need to undertake CPD but it will only be one part of the revalidation framework. We will need to provide records of:

• CPD, but only four activities per year 
• Peer discussion
• A reflective account. 

What does this mean?

The proposed CPD records are much the same as what we do now, but two of the records will need to be planned learning. The recording of CPD will also be much simpler, less repetitive and will focus more on activities that matter to pharmacy technicians’ practice and the people who use our pharmacy services. 

The peer discussion will be a record of a discussion with another person who understands your work and area of practice. It will need to show what changes you made to your work after the discussion, which again benefits the people who use pharmacy services. 

The reflective account will be a record of a learning activity that focuses on one or more of the professional standards and again how this learning has impacted on your work to give better outcomes for people who use pharmacy services.

The GPhC is proposing that the revalidation records be submitted at the same time each year when a pharmacy technician renews their registration. These will then be selected randomly, or some may be targeted for review. This does mean that revalidation records must be recorded each year for the annual submission. The GPhC is also looking at improving the quality of records review. 

The GPhC proposes to introduce the new revalidation framework in stages from 2018. They will not review new CPD records until 2019 and peer review and reflective accounts will not be reviewed until 2020. 

So there is no need to be alarmed. APTUK has been part of the framework’s development and I, and many of our national officers, took part in the pilot last year. It isn’t as complex as it sounds and it applies to pharmacists as well pharmacy technicians. As your professional leadership body, APTUK is here to help members. And there will be a session explaining the changes at our annual professional conference in Cardiff on the 2-3 July 2017. 

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, this is a proposal and the consultation will run until 17 July 2017. So if you would like to know more or respond, visit: pharmacyregulation.org/news/gphc-launches-consultation-revalidation.

APTUK will be responding on behalf of pharmacy technicians, so if you would like to be part of this, please check for information on our website: aptuk.org or please do contact me.