Practice Review

During 2022/2023, we undertook a review of the current CPD model for pharmacists with independent consultancy support, to ensure that it supports future pharmacist practice in all settings, that it is agile, adaptive, and sustainable, and that it delivers value for money. One of the recommendations of the review was to remove Practice Review from the current CPD model, based on the absence of similar measures in international practice, the performance data observed to date, the feedback of the pharmacy community and the relatively high costs of its operation. Further information on the review is available on the PSI website.

As this event has been suspended, you are no longer required to attend on 13 or 14 April. The PSI will be working over the coming months to implement the necessary legislative changes to underpin a revised CPD model for pharmacists. You can contact cpd@psi.ie should you have any further queries.

If you were previously granted an exemption from participating in the April 2024 Practice Review event, or earlier event, you will not be expected to attend on 19 or 20 October 2024 as the event is now suspended. The PSI will be working over the coming months to implement the necessary legislative changes to underpin a revised CPD model for pharmacists. You can contact cpd@psi.ie should you have any further queries.

You can find more information on the PSI website. If you have any other queries you can send these to cpd@psi.ie.

The CPD Rules states that Practice Review is the “direct evaluation … of the knowledge, skills and judgement of the pharmacist, against a standard established in consultation with peer pharmacists practising in patient-facing roles, having regard to the Core Competency Framework for Pharmacists, with particular reference to those competencies dealing with patient care, including clinical knowledge, the ability to gather and interpret appropriately information from and about patients, patient management and education and communication (including counselling) skills.”

Practice Reviews are conducted by the IIOP and consist of the following two components:

1. Clinical Knowledge Review (CKR)

Pharmacists are presented with 18 patient-based cases and are asked to answer 3 multiple choice questions (MCQs) on each case (resulting in a total of 54 MCQs).

2. Standardised Pharmacy Interactions (SPIs)

A series of Standardised Pharmacy Interactions (SPIs) form the second component of Practice Review. Each SPI is designed to be reflective of situations with which pharmacists practising in patient-facing roles would be expected to be capable of dealing, such as counselling a patient on a prescription medication, providing advice to someone on the treatment of a minor ailment or dealing with an enquiry from a healthcare professional. Pharmacists undertake seven SPIs, in addition to an initial trial run SPI which does not contribute to the review results.

Who is eligible for selection for Practice Review?

All pharmacists practising in a patient facing role who have been called for ePortfolio Review in a previous year are eligible for selection for Practice Review. Notification that a pharmacist has been selected for Practice Review is sent from the PSI to the email address a pharmacist has previously provided to the PSI. This email address can be updated in the PSI Registration Portal. Once notified, selected pharmacists can then expect to receive communications via email directly from the IIOP. Pharmacists must ensure they have provided their current email address to the IIOP. This can be updated within the 'My Profile' section when logged in to the IIOP website. 

What do we mean by patient-facing?

A patient-facing role includes any pharmacist providing care directly to a patient and/or any pharmacist whose work has an impact on patient care, irrespective of setting or the number of hours of practice per week, month or year.  Although not exhaustive, the following gives examples of roles which are considered as patient-facing:

• Pharmacists working on a fulltime, occasional or casual basis in community pharmacy
• Hospital Pharmacists working on a fulltime, occasional or casual basis
• Superintendent Pharmacists
• Supervising Pharmacists
• Locum Pharmacists

Part 5, Rule 12 (7) of the PSI (Continuing Professional Development) Rules 2015 states

“….practising in a “patient-facing role” means carrying out the role of a pharmacist in the delivery, or the oversight of the delivery, of care and services to members of the public, including patients, whether in a retail pharmacy business or in a pharmacy department of a hospital, or any other relevant location including on a casual or occasional basis, and includes the role carried out by a superintendent pharmacist, a supervising pharmacist and any other registered pharmacist engaged or employed in a retail pharmacy business or in the pharmacy department of a hospital.

The guidelines that support Practice Review are set out in the Practice Review Policy. The IIOP conducts the Practice Review events and more details and resources on Practice Review can be found on the IIOP website.