FIP launches workforce hub

TWO Australians are among the leaders of a new Workforce Development Hub (WDH) launched overnight by the International Pharmaceutical Federation.

To be headed up by director Ian Bates, the WDH aims to bring together experts in workforce and education to provide evidencebased resources to support global pharmacy workforce and education development.

Bates said the WDH was the culmination of more than a decade of innovation, and would build on existing strategies to provide “practical, useful and impactful actions for national states and member organisations to use.

“Workforce transformation is the single biggest factor in advancing the professional impact of pharmacists in health care and medicines innovation,” he said.

The WDH team includes Dr Kirstie Galbraith from Monash University in Vic who will lead work on advanced practice and specialisation, as well as Dr Ian Larson, also from Monash, who heads up the WDH’s work on e-platforms and IT-based learning.

Others on the team include Claire Anderson from the UK’s Nottingham University (academic and institutional capacity); Mike Rouse from the US Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (quality assurance); Jill Boone from the University of Cincinatti (interprofessional education and collaborative practice); Toyin Tofade of Howard University in Washington DC (continuing professional development and continuing education); Christopher John from the UK’s Royal Pharmaceutical Society (workforce intelligence); and Susan James from Canada’s Ontario College of Pharmacists (strategic platform for pharmacy technicians and support workforce).

Calls will also go out in 2019 to recruit new global leads and expert volunteers to support the WDH’s mission to transform the global workforce.