PSA, ACP to take on AACP functions

THE Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) and the Australasian College of Pharmacy (ACP) will take on the role of accrediting pharmacists next year, with the Australian Association of Consultant Pharmacy (AACP) to be decommissioned at the end of the year.

The decision, announced this morning (PD breaking news) followed a meeting of the AACP Board earlier this month, during which the organisation’s owners, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the PSA, agreed to wind the body down.

PSA National President, Dr Fei Sim, said that despite the closure of the AACP, accreditation would remain a key part of the pharmacy profession going forward.

“PSA is and always will be the home of accredited pharmacists. Accreditation aligns with our policy and advocacy agenda,” she said.

“We are absolutely committed to ensuring accreditation opportunities remain and acknowledge the need for pharmacists to develop and maintain the skills attained during accreditation to be a minimum requirement for activities like Residential Medication Management Reviews (RMMRS) and Home Medicines Reviews (HMRS).

“Accredited pharmacists have and will continue to play a vital role in the profession, especially as work progresses to embed pharmacists in residential aged care facilities.”

Sim revealed that the PSA has established an Accreditation Expert Advisory Group, which will be led by former AACP Chair, Debbie Rigby, to provide advice on a new accreditation model, to meet the needs of accredited pharmacists.

Guild National President, Trent Twomey, had hinted that the AACP would cease operations, in an update at the Pharmacy Industry Roadshow event in Sydney earlier this month.

“We love people doing medication reviews and we want people doing medication reviews, and the reason the AACP is going to be wound back and out is because more people need to be accredited,” he said.

“It’s not because we don’t value the task, it’s not because we don’t value the practitioners, but as scope evolves things will be stood up to upskill [pharmacists], and once you’re upskilled it will be decommissioned.

“That’s a marker of the success of the journey to full scope of practice.”