11 May 2018
Victoria Ruszala, Specialist Pharmacist Diabetes and Endocrinology, North Bristol NHS Trust, in conjunction with UK Clinical Pharmacy Association (UKCPA) Diabetes & Endocrinology Group has developed this framework, building on the TREND framework to support the pharmacist profession.
Diabetes is a new area of speciality for pharmacist practice, however the profession has been involved in some aspects of the care of people with diabetes for many years. New specialist roles are being developed, as well as the skills and knowledge of pharmacists working in new sectors, such as general practitioner (GP) practice pharmacists.
Pharmacists at the forefront of delivering diabetes care
Pharmacists working at all levels in diabetes care can contribute to the process of commissioning and delivering the ideal diabetes service for their population. They can be at the forefront in delivering care, whether providing advice and supporting self-care in the community, performing the annual review and monitoring in a GP practice, or leading a multi-professional team to deliver a comprehensive number of services, including pump therapy, and inpatient and antenatal care.
To deliver care successfully, pharmacists need to be clear about what competencies are required to deliver high-quality diabetes care in a patient-facing role and demonstrate those competencies. Furthermore, experienced pharmacists should be able to assess need and be innovative, and to evaluate and demonstrate that they achieve desired health outcomes. This framework supports the commissioning of appropriate levels of pharmacists to deliver diabetes services and provides a clear definition of the pharmacist roles – and their expected competencies – within diabetes care.
Download Pharmacist Career and Competency Framework (PDF 681 KB)
'The Royal Pharmaceutical Society commends the work of this group to develop a framework to support pharmacists managing patients with diabetes. We will continue to work with UKCPA to align to the wider Professional Curricula being developed to support the pharmacy workforce to deliver safe and effective care to patients in all care settings.'
Paul Bennett
CEO RPS
