As the RPS Faculty reaches its first anniversary, one of its early members shares her experiences

Felicity Stephens became the superintendent pharmacist of newly opened Summersdale Pharmacy in Chichester, which is owned by the GP practice it is attached to, two years ago. She decided to join the Society’s Faculty last year because there was no other framework that enabled her to look at her specific needs as a superintendent. While pharmacists have the CPPE, for example, there is nothing similar for superintendents.

Felicity Stephens "This Gives you an opportunity to stand back and think"

“It was about me personally reaching a point in my career where I didn’t have anywhere to look for a structured development,” says Ms Stephens. “I think it’s particularly useful for independents because of their limited resources for staff development and lack of head office support.”

Ms Stephens admits being initially unsure about what to expect from the Faculty, but found the Society’s blog a helpful way to share ideas. And she expects pharmacists to get used to the concept, which may seem as alien as CPD when it was first introduced.

Ms Stephens used the Faculty framework to set up the criteria for her own appraisal, which the doctors were able to carry out. “It was a bit of a leap of faith because we’ve had nothing like this before. It wasn’t as defined as something like CPPE – you set your own agenda.”

Evidence collection

Faculty membership can also help compliance with the new GPhC premises inspection scheme, because it involves collecting evidence to prove how things are done, says Ms Stephens. “The pharmacist manager can’t possibly stand back and think about these things. If you own your own pharmacy you probably spend your day delivering then your nights making the strategic decisions. This gives you an opportunity to stand back and think.”

Providing evidence of competency could be more challenging in some areas than others, although support and advice was freely available from the Society. Research, for example, was an area that could be more challenging for community pharmacists. And pharmacists were often not aware that they had competencies in a certain area. Preparing a 20-minute training session on information governance for staff demonstrated a teaching competency, for example. While much of the work she does is at level two, Ms Stephens was unable to show evidence for level two activities in all the required areas so she is currently a level one member. Once the portfolio is submitted, the feedback from the Society is “superb”.

Faculty members can apply for re-assessment at any time. “But from my point of view it’s achieved what I wanted, and I’ve got the letters after my name.” Ms Stephens is proud of her achievement, which she feels gives her additional confidence in her daily practice.