Clinical Pharmacy for Secondary and Tertiary Care

Awards

Target Award

Award Description:Master of Science - MS

Recruitable Target

Alternative Exit

Award Description:Postgraduate Diploma - PD

Award Learning Outcomes:In addition to the outcomes for the Certificate level, students will be capable of evaluating their own and others' practice and take action to improve this, including through use of appropriate evaluation relating to development of new services. Critique current service delivery to develop appropriate changes to practice and lead implementation of change within their team. Apply their clinical knowledge to the management of complex patients, working with other members of the multidisciplinary team to examine the clinical issues and propose appropriate treatment pathways. Students undertaking the prescribing pathway within the programme will also be able to demonstrate the skills necessary to prescribe independently within a defined area of practice.

Recruitable Target

Alternative Exit

Award Description:Postgraduate Certificate - PC

Award Learning Outcomes:Understand and apply clinical information to a range of patients with moderate complexity. Appraise relevant primary evidence, guidelines and policy documents and determine the most appropriate application of these to practice. Undertake critical self-review and apply this to their own personal development and incorporate it into their lifelong learning.

Programme Offerings

Part-Time

F2F-JMU-MAR

F2F-JMU-SEP

Educational Aims of the Course

The overall aim of the programme is to support students in developing their clinical pharmacy practice so that they can demonstrate a patient-centred approach to care, promote the medicines safety agenda and make evidence-based recommendations in practice. These clinical pharmacists will also be equipped to effectively promote and assess clinical pharmacy services, which will directly benefit the organisations and patients they serve.

Learning Outcomes

Conduct patient-centred consultations and tailor information to the needs of the recipient

Screen, assess and prioritise patients for potential pharmacist input by evaluating their health and social care needs

Make contributions to patient care by applying their knowledge of clinical therapeutics and evidence-based medicine to the critical analysis of common long-term conditions and reasons for admission to hospital

Assess the clinical indicators of response to drug therapy and identify adverse effects of such therapy in individual patients

Critically evaluate and synthesise information (including evidence-based practice) from a variety of sources

Critically reflect on their own practice, identify areas for continuing professional development and take responsibility for addressing such needs

Keep up-to-date with issues relevant to the pharmacy profession and healthcare services

Apply planning, analytical and problem-solving skills to optimising care and improving healthcare practice

Plan, conduct and evaluate a service improvement project, making recommendations on how to improve care for patients in the future

Teaching, Learning and Assessment

Lectures, seminars, workshops, workplace-based activities, student-directed learning. Written reports, portfolio, case presentation, portfolio, project report. Transferable/key skills are embedded in modules within the programme. Examples include the use of spreadsheets and statistical computer packages to analyse data, the use of presentation packages to produce presentations, group working and research projects. These are assessed via case presentations, portfolio and project report.

Opportunities for work related learning

Since students study this programme whilst working, work-based learning is a key feature. During the first year of the programme, students are supported by a Practice-Based Tutor (PBT) and other suitably experienced assessors (details of which are provided upon enrolment) from their workplace to provide routine formative feedback on the their clinical practice. All students are allocated a Personal Tutor by LJMU to provide support throughout the programme and monitor their engagement. Students completing the MSc pathway will undertake a 60 credit research project which is focussed around their current work role and this will provide further opportunities to reflect on their practice and build an evidence base for facilitating changes and improvements to practice (both their own and their colleagues’).

Programme Structure

Programme Structure Description

The programme runs over three years part-time with two intakes per year in March and September. The requirement for the PgCert award is completion of modules totalling 60 credits, usually over one year: 7201CPPHAR Developing Hospital Pharmacists' Practice (CORE),7202CPPHAR Principles of Medicines Optimisation (CORE) plus ONE from 7200CPPHAR Medicines Optimisation in Hospitals or 7212CPPHAR Fundamental Paediatric Pharmacy Practice. The requirement for the PgDip award is completion of modules totalling 120 credits, usually over two years. Students need to complete 7201CPPHAR Developing Hospital Pharmacists' Practice (CORE),7202CPPHAR Principles of Medicines Optimisation (CORE) plus ONE from 7200CPPHAR Medicines Optimisation in Hospitals (OPTIONAL) or 7212CPPHAR Fundamental Paediatric Pharmacy Practice (OPTIONAL) in the first year. In the 2nd year they complete 7207CPPHAR Quality Improvement in Healthcare (CORE) plus another 40 credits from the remaining optional modules. Students wishing to pursue the prescribing pathway as part of the PgDip or MSc award must select option module 7208CPPHAR Independent Prescribing for Pharmacists (40 credits) in addition to the core modules, and must meet the relevant prerequisites (described in ‘Admission criteria' below) before commencing this route. Students wising to pursue the non-prescribing pathway as part of the PgDip or MSc award must select any two option modules from 7200CPPHAR Medicines Optimisation in Hospitals (if not taken in year 1),7209CPPHAR Oncology Pharmacy Practice in Secondary Care, 7211CPPHAR Advanced Paediatric Pharmacy Practice in Secondary Care, 7212CPPHAR Fundamental Paediatric Pharmacy Practice (if not taken in year 1),7213CPPHAR Clinical Leadership in Medicines Optimisation and 7214CPPHAR Education and Training in Healthcare. The requirement for the MSc award is completion of modules totalling 180 credits, usually over three years. The first two years are as the PgDip. In the third year 7215CPPHAR Research Project will be completed. Students will be assigned a project supervisor from LJMU who will assist students in formulating their proposals. Since the Research Project for the Masters award is undertaken in the workplace, students will have a workplace mentor, where available, who will have subject and/or research experience within the field of study. Students registered for the PgDip or MSc who are unable to complete their target award but successfully complete the requirements of the PgDip or PgCert will be awarded the relevant alternative exit award. The following modules are also available to study as a single-module Certificate of Professional Development award (CPD): 36447 CPD Quality Improvement in Healthcare (7207CPPHAR),35770/35771 CPD Independent Prescribing for Pharmacists (7208CPPHAR),36445 CPD Oncology Pharmacy Practice in Secondary Care (7209CPPHAR),36436 CPD Advanced Paediatric Pharmacy Practice (7211CPPHAR),7212CPPHAR Fundamental Paediatric Pharmacy Practice and 36437 CPD Clinical Leadership in Medicines Optimisation (7213CPPHAR). These programme rules apply to students starting the programme from September 2021 onwards - the previously validated programme rules apply to existing students.

Structure

Level 7

Level 7 Core

Level 7 Optional

Approved variance from Academic Framework Regulations

The following variances to the Academic Framework have been approved by the Education Committee on the 14th November 2019: To align the programme to the GPhC educational standards all assessment have to be passed. No compensation or condonation can be accepted. To ensure the programme aligns to the GPhC commitment to patient safety, no opportunity for a referral, FMA or ESR is given when a student fails to identify or respond to a serious problem or gives an answer which would cause a serious patient harm. As all assessments within pharmacist independent prescribing programme are based on realworld situations, for example, case report, portfolio of activities, any failure on the part of pharmacist independent prescriber in training to identify or respond to a serious health issue or provide an example in which potential patient harm (unsafe practice) will be considered a fitness to practice issue. Where a pharmacist independent prescriber in training who, during an assessment, fails to identify or respond to a serious problem or gives an answer which would cause a serious patient harm: 1. Are to fail and withdraw from the programme 2. Do not have the right to a referral opportunity (PG.C7.5 refers) 3. Do not have the opportunity to retrieve their failure by resitting or resubmitting the required element of the assessment (PG.C7.8 refers) 4. No final module attempt (FMA) or exceptional second referral (ESR) opportunities will be offered (PG C7.13) 5. They would not be allowed to re-enrol on the programme In such cases, no award is given, however existing academic credits (e.g. those obtained from PgDip programmes) will be awarded. To determine the serious nature of the problem, a panel of healthcare professionals will assess the ‘serious problem’ in line with the definition of risk as set out in the programme guide. This Panel will compromise an academic chair, an academic healthcare practitioner and a healthcare prescribing practitioner, both of whom practice in similar field to the identified problem. Ideally, both healthcare professional will be prescribers. Any decision of this Panel will be reported to the next Board of Examiners. As well as the LJMU Certificate of Professional Development in Independent Prescribing for Pharmacists, students will also be presented with a certificate stating that they have been awarded a Practice Certificate in Independent Prescribing as this is a requirement of the regulator (GPhC) to permit annotation as an independent prescriber on the Pharmacy Register. Approval has been granted for the 40 credit independent prescribing for pharmacists to be offered as an option module in year two of this programme.

Entry Requirements

IELTS

Interview required

RPL

Undergraduate degree

Extra Entry Requirements

Students that have obtained an appropriate Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy from LJMU or another institution may be considered for direct entry to the 60-credit research project module to top up their award to a full MSc. Students applying for this route do not need to be employed in a role in England, but must be in a position that would allow them to complete a relevant research project. Individuals interested in this route should contact the course leader by emailing: PBS-Office@ljmu.ac.uk to discuss their circumstances prior to submitting an application.

to be a UK registered (GPhC) pharmacist working in a Secondary Care role, with an opportunity to contribute to the clinical care of patients
a term of employment sufficient to allow completion of the registered course (1 year for PgCert and 2 years for Diploma). This does not apply to those applying to 'top-up' a Clinical Pharmacy PgDip to the MSc

Course Catalogue