Foundation Training Year Short Duration (Taster) Placement Resources
What are short duration (taster) placements?
Short duration (taster) placements are designed to introduce Trainee Pharmacists (TP) to the role of pharmacy in other sectors, and where appropriate, build on their experience from previous placements (e.g. as an undergraduate).
The placement resources have been developed to:
Enable organisations to easily implement new cross-sector placements and joint programmes.
Support TPs, Designated Supervisors (DS)/ Educational leads and Placement Supervisors with existing cross-sector placements.
Allow placement providers to see how hosting a Trainee Pharmacist could work for longer duration placements.
Benefits of cross-sector placements
The NHS Interim People Plan (2019) emphasises the importance of cross-sector training for early careers pharmacists to meet the workforce needed for integrated care systems as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.
Cross-sector training for pharmacists is recognised as a model to develop Trainee Pharmacists’ understanding of the different roles of pharmacists across health and care sectors, as well as the roles of professions involved in patient care within the system.
Cross-sector placements also give Trainee Pharmacists an opportunity to widen their professional sector experience and to gain learning and evidence to support completion of the GPhC learning outcomes.
Resources
Placement resources have been developed to support placement implementation in Community pharmacy, GP practice and Hospital.
We have developed a range of resources to enable training leads and supervisors to implement a short duration (taster) placement, designed to complement existing HEE resources.
The resources, available below, provide the Trainee Pharmacist and placement supervisor with suggested objectives, activities, and templates to adapt to their local training needs to support the placement development.
Supervisors
The Supervisor Guide contains guidance and resources to help the placement supervisor develop a short duration placement for Trainee Pharmacists. It outlines the roles and responsibilities of the DS/ Educational lead and placement supervisor throughout the placement.
Trainee Pharmacists
The Trainee Pharmacist Guide has been developed to support trainees during their placement and includes information on pre-placement preparation, responsibilities and leave arrangements,
Sector-specific Workbooks
Trainee pharmacists can use the workbook to identify their learning needs for a specific sector of practice, refer to suggested learning resources and activities, and map their evidence to the GPhC Interim Learning Outcomes for Foundation Training Year to upload to their E-portfolio.
Support for Placement Implementation
This pilot project will support organisations with the development of new cross-sector training partnerships and existing short duration placements. It would be very helpful for us to know of new and existing cross-sector partnerships, particularly those who are planning to use these resources so we can provide support with implementation. Please submit your partnership details using the placement form below.
Placement Evaluation
Feedback from Supervisors and Trainee Pharmacists who use these resources is essential to help us continuously improve the guides/workbooks and to ensure they support the trainee pharmacist foundation training year and organisations. Please complete the short feedback survey to help us capture your experience of using the resources:
If you would like to share any additional feedback, contact HEE Pharmacy London team.