Social accountability underpins draft accreditation standards

The Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) is moving to the second stage of consultation on the 'Accreditation Standards for Pharmacy and Intern Training Programs' and is now seeking responses and feedback to the draft standards.

APC CEO Bronwyn Clark says it’s vital to ensure the Accreditation Standards underpin a contemporary pharmacist education system in Australia.

“The Accreditation Standards serve as a guarantee to the public that the pharmacy training and education programs produce pharmacists fit for now and the future. With the practice of pharmacy expanding to a full scope of practice, these revised standards will enable all graduates to demonstrate these capabilities on general registration,” Ms Clark said.

For the first time, accreditation of both degree and intern training programs will be covered by a single set of Standards. Due to the evolving nature of pharmacy practice a number of new elements proposed within these standards include:

• a social accountability principle that underpins the standards so pharmacists can contribute to the ongoing improvement of individual and societal health
• strengthening the focus of education on the health disparities and inequities experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Māori peoples, and highlight the importance of providing a culturally safe environment for their care
• a focus on a broader understanding of culture which incorporates the concepts of social determinants of health and the needs of diverse groups within society
• performance outcomes that articulate the milestones for the end of both the degree and intern training programs
• adapting the five-domain accreditation standard model adopted by other health professions to reflect the specific requirements of pharmacy to harmonise with the other professions
• minimising overlap and improving the streamlining of accreditation by clarifying the different requirements of professional accreditation and those of other accreditation and quality assurance processes undertaken by authorities such as Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA)
• increasing the understanding that health care is most effectively provided through a collaborative interprofessional health care team.

APC is encouraging stakeholders interested in providing their valuable feedback to read Consultation Paper Two for more detailed information and to register for two face to face consultation sessions coming up in April on the draft Standards via our website.

Written responses can also be submitted by April 26 2019 by downloading this template and sending it to STDS.Review@pharmacycouncil.org.au

Further enquiries

Glenys Wilkinson
Email: standardsreview@pharmacycouncil.org.au

Media contact

Bronwyn Clark
Chief Executive Officer
Ph: +61 2 6188 4288