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Development of a professional competency framework for clinical pharmacy in Sweden

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European Statement

Education and Research

Author(s)

Matts Balgard, Jeanette Andersson, Per Nydert, Niral Patel, Anna Skrinning, Matilda Soderberg, Simon Tekmen, Celina Sving

Why was it done?

A growing number of pharmacists in Sweden are working in a clinical setting. They often have different responsibilities and tasks, which may seem confusing to other healthcare professionals. There is an interprofessional need to describe different roles for hospital pharmacists. Equally important, there is an intraprofessional need to establish core competencies and progression of those roles and develop a professional framework to advance career structure for hospital pharmacists.

What was done?

Two associations for health system pharmacists in Sweden took the initiative to collaboratively develop a national professional competency framework for clinical pharmacy practice.

How was it done?

A working group of experienced clinical pharmacists was tasked with drafting a first role description and professional framework for clinical pharmacy practice.
The development of the role description was influenced by, and drew upon, previous similar efforts in Sweden – primarily Stockholm, the UK Advanced Pharmacy Framework (APF) and the EAHP Competency Framework for Hospital Pharmacy. A reference group of approximately 40 Swedish clinical pharmacist volunteers provided feedback on the first draft, which improved the revised final role description.

What has been achieved?

The national role description for clinical pharmacy consists of an overview of the role, an outline of formal educational requirements and a competency framework strongly influenced by the APF. The framework has six competency clusters: clinical pharmacy practice, working relationships and communication, leadership and motivation, service development, education and training, research and evaluation and lists four stages of experience: junior, intermediate, senior and consultant.
The role description was launched in April 2022 with an open invitation to practitioners, employers and local union clubs to begin to adopt and try out the professional competency framework. It is too early to evaluate impact, but the initiative has been met with support from employers and the clinical pharmacy community.

What next?

The organisations will further promote and support implementation of the published role description. A revision is planned in 2023–2024 based on real-world feedback. New working groups are being formed to develop similar role descriptions for drug preparation and drug distribution. There is still a need to develop a system of credentialing progression between the experience stages of the professional framework.

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