Introduction and Policy
The principal purpose of the HPCA Act 2003 is to protect the health and safety of members of the public and provides the Pharmacy Council of NZ with mechanisms to ensure that Pharmacists are competent and fit to practise, not just at the point of registration but on an ongoing basis.
Recertification is one of the mechanisms through which the Pharmacy Council of NZ will ensure pharmacists are competent to practise within the scope of practice of a pharmacist, hence assuring public safety. To view the Pharmacy Council's policies on recertification requirements and audit please see these links:
2010 Audit
The 2010 Audit will commence in August. An information pamphlet giving details of the audit process is available here. If you have been selected for audit in 2010 you will be asked to submit a Learning Log along with your CPD sheets. The Learning Log is a summary of all of your learning activities in the audit period April 2007 to March 2010. If you require a copy of the Log, please click here. The audit guideline outlines the criteria that CPD forms will be audited against - click here for the criteria.
Examples of completed CPD records are available here.
Non-compliance in Recertification
If you are not meeting the requirements of recertification at Annual Practising Certificate (APC) renewal time, the Council may issue you with an APC with conditions. The conditions would vary your scope of practice and will require you to practise under the oversight of a professional peer, [under s.28(2) of the HPCA Act 2003] until you can demonstrate full compliance in recertification. These conditions will be recorded on the Register and are publicly available.
The Council recertification policy states that any pharmacist holding conditions for non-compliance of recertification will be informed that they may not hold the following roles until the conditions are lifted:
- Preceptor pharmacists
- Councillors (including Committee members)
- Competence Reviewers or Practice Counsellors
- Pharmacist assessors, appointed or employed for all Council functions, including overseas pharmacist assessors and preregistration programme assessors.
In addition, the policy states that the pharmacist must provide reports to the Competence Policy Advisor every three months, signed by the pharmacist and their professional peer, indicating the progress that they are making towards achieving compliance with the recertification process.
Recertification Programme Framework
The recertification programme is based on the four steps (reflection, planning, action, outcomes) of the continuing professional development (CPD) model and meets the following requirements;
- A reflection step including assessment against the Pharmacy Council of NZ Competence Standards
- Learning that is both relevant to practice and addresses areas of identified need
- Documentation of the CPD undertaken that demonstrates that the pharmacist has followed the four steps in the CPD cycle
- Practice-benefit outcomes assessment according to Pharmacy Council of NZ Outcome Credit Scale
- Pharmacy Council of NZ to set the information required from the pharmacist on approved CPD record forms so that these can be audited.
The main purpose of CPD is to assist pharmacists to maintain and develop their practice and to meet the requirements for remaining on the register for practising pharmacists.
Accredited Programmes
Currently the only recertification programme available and accredited by the Pharmacy Council of NZ is ENHANCE® which is provided by the Pharmaceutical Society of NZ (Inc).
It is envisaged that in future other recertification programmes based on the same framework will be made available by interested providers.
If you have any inquiries regarding accreditation of a programme that you consider to meet the recertification programme framework set by the Pharmacy Council of NZ please contact the Recertification Team.
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