Two new pharmacy specialties in Critical Care and Paediatric Pharmacy

       Two new pharmacy specialties - in Critical Care Pharmacy and Paediatric Pharmacy - have been introduced to raise professional standards and improve patient care.

2.     Since 2012, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has introduced five pharmacy specialties. These are in cardiology pharmacy, geriatric pharmacy, infectious diseases pharmacy, oncology pharmacy, and psychiatric pharmacy. There are now 32 pharmacy specialists who are contributing in the management of complex patients with cancers, infectious and cardiovascular diseases, as well as psychiatric and geriatric conditions.

3.     The introduction of the new specialties in critical care pharmacy and paediatric pharmacy will serve complex needs among the following patient population groups.

        a) Critical care specialist pharmacists will apply their knowledge and skills to ensure the safe and effective use of medications for critically ill patients.

        b) Paediatric specialist pharmacists will help in optimising medication use, improving safe use of medicines and reducing medication errors and adverse drug effects in paediatric patients with complex conditions.

4.     The highly-skilled pharmacy specialists are also expected to contribute in new service development and quality improvement, clinical leadership, education and research in their respective areas.

Accreditation as Pharmacy Specialists

5.     From 1 February 2019 to 31 December 2020, the Pharmacy Specialists Accreditation Board (PSAB) will carry out the accreditation of critical care pharmacy and paediatric pharmacy to recognise existing pharmacists with relevant expertise. Applicants should:

• Possess a valid specialty board certification recognised by PSAB;

• Have at least eight years of patient care pharmacy practice experience; and

• Have at least five years of specialty practice experience in the seven years preceding the application.

       The determination of relevant experience will be based on submissions of evidence such as case logs, case write-ups and multi-source evaluation forms.

6.      In July 2020, new national residency programmes for these two specialties will be introduced to provide structured training to pharmacists who are keen to specialise in these two areas. Upon successful completion of the Year 1 (R1) and Year 2 (R2) residency training and having accumulated required specialist practice experience and acquired the relevant specialty board certification, pharmacists can apply to the PSAB to be accredited, and registered with the Singapore Pharmacy Council as a Pharmacy Specialist upon successful accreditation.

Other Enhancements in Residency Programme

7.      To further strengthen the local residency training framework and ensure benchmarking against international standards, PSAB has also implemented new training and programme accreditation standards for the National Pharmacy Residency Programmes in April 2019.

8.      The new training standards cover four core competency domains in: (i) Patient Care, (ii) Advancing Practice & Improving Patient Care; (iii) Leadership & Management; and (iv) Teaching, Education and Dissemination of Knowledge. The new accreditation standards articulate the roles and responsibilities of programme sponsors, programme directors, faculty, pharmacy and hospital administrators in supporting the excellent delivery of training. A new series of training workshops has been rolled out since November 2018 to further enhance the teaching and assessment skills of residency faculty members.

9.      The residency programmes have also adopted an enhanced portfolio-based learning and assessment framework since the July 2018 intake to provide more structured and robust training for residents. Under the guidance of their preceptors (faculty), residents will take greater ownership of their training by maintaining a portfolio and performing regular self-reflections on their progress. At the end of the programme, the portfolios of residents will be reviewed by two individual portfolio assessors and clarified through an oral examination to ensure that all required competencies are met, and the final outcome will be concluded by a Board of Examiners.

10.      These enhancements are part of ongoing efforts in developing a skilled and future-ready pharmacy workforce, as we continue to transform our healthcare model to meet the trends of an ageing population, increased chronic disease incidence and rising citizen expectations.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH
7 JUNE 2019