SHPA's plan to advance Australia's pharmacy workforce

The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) has released its vision for developing the Australian hospital pharmacy workforce and a new Standard of Practice for hospital pharmacy technicians.

In his opening at Medicines Management 2019 (MM2019), the 45th SHPA National Conference, SHPA President Peter Fowler unveiled Advancing Australia’s Pharmacy Workforce — SHPA’s bold vision for realising an advanced pharmacy profession, delivering quality use of medicines and benefiting all Australians.

“This manifesto ties together years of planning, showing through two concepts how SHPA supports members in their everyday work while fostering a broader healthcare environment in which every pharmacist can maximise their impact on patient care,” Fowler said.

“In the first, SHPA’s Practitioner Development Pathway connects our cornerstone initiatives and programs, showing how SHPA supports growth in a pharmacist’s skill, expertise and experience, connecting ambition and opportunity as they advance their practice.

“In the second, SHPA’s six Pharmacy Innovation Principles show how we intend to foster intra- and inter-hospital environments that fully harness the value and expertise of Australia’s hospital pharmacy workforce.”

Fowler welcomed challenges to orthodox thinking, evident in the diverse and dynamic program spanning mental health, opioid stewardship, digital health, leadership, teaching, deprescribing, disaster preparation and recovery, novel cancer therapies and safety across the transitions of care.

“We will be confronted by waves of disruption born of non-orthodox thinking and fashioned on emerging evidence — some will be ripples, others breakers and, I expect, some giant ocean swells,” Fowler said.

“The challenge is to be receptive to these ideas and to apply careful and logical consideration, for I believe here we will find many answers to today’s and tomorrow’s problems as we continue individually, as teams and as an organisation to advance pharmacy and advance patient care.”

SHPA’s Pharmacy Innovation Principles

1. Position all pharmacy practitioners, across all settings and in all roles, as essential to Australian health care.
2. Support and recognise pharmacists and technicians to operate at their fullest scope of practice.
3. Embed an advancing practice approach to reflective lifelong learning from the earliest stages of career development.
4. Establish equitable access to experiential learning for students, hospital pharmacy interns, and foundation and advanced training residents across Australia.
5. Progress advanced and specialty roles and career opportunities for pharmacists and technicians.
6. Build and strengthen partnerships fostering innovation and research between practitioners, healthcare teams and organisations.

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