Recruitment and organising 3rd year pharmacy undergraduates into summer placements in primary care in Southwest England

Introduction

Primary care is facing a workforce shortage, especially in Southwest England (SW).1 Funding for clinical pharmacist roles in GP has an impact on community pharmacy with pharmacists leaving to take up PCN positions.2 SW has higher rate of vacancies in than nationally.3 Oriel data showed that fill rate for split foundation training placements in GP is high, however, in SW is significantly low.

Aim

To increase recruitment of future pharmacists in SW by offering pharmacy undergraduates paid 5-week summer placements in GP or GP/community pharmacy partnership, gaining primary care experience, showcasing benefits of cross-sector working and encouraging development of partnerships for increased cross-sector training placements.

Objectives

Students enjoy SW area placement, Students recommend placement to other students, Students preference GP foundation placement, Supervisors express interest in a summer placement for 2022, Supervisors express interest in the GP split trainee pharmacist programme.

Methods

Expressions of interest (EOIs) sought from primary care placements in SW and 16 sites selected. Applicants shortlisted and interviewed online. 16 offered placements based on preference of location. Funding by HEE South reimbursed for student’s wages. Planning booklets provided to GPs, workbooks to students and online induction attended. During the placement, students completed an audit and case-based discussion, shadowed healthcare professionals, assisted administration and pharmacy tasks and practised basic procedural skills. Students attended end-of-placement event to share learning and sent questionnaire focusing on enjoyment of the placement and likelihood of returning to the Southwest and primary care for future employment. Supervisors sent questionnaire separately focusing on likelihood to partake in future. Questionnaires were sent, completed and analysed via Jisc. Ethics approval was not required.

Results

10 students and 11 supervisors completed the survey. 60% students enjoyed SW. 90% students would recommend placement to other students and 90% would like to see them in other areas. 70% students very likely to or definitely would apply for GP foundation placement. 63% supervisors benefitted from having a student and 81% would recommend having summer placement student. 55% supervisors would definitely EOI in future summer placement programme and 55% would definitely EOI in GP split foundation programme. 25% students chose GP/Community placements in SW, 18% other placements in SW, 12% GP placements in other regions. Oriel fill rates in SW increased from 36.67% in 2020 to 39.30% in 2021, GP/Community placements remained the same in 2021 at 28.2% and community placements increased in from 18.14% in 2020 to 18.75% in 2021.

Discussion/Conclusion

The students enjoyed their placements and would recommend to other students. Supervisors found having students useful and would have a student in the future. Although some students were successful in securing a placement in SW for foundation training, due to nature of Oriel it’s not possible to determine how many preferenced SW and GP split programme, this is a limitation to the evaluation. Oriel fill rates didn’t increase for SW community/GP placements as desired, however this was a very small cohort. This pilot will be repeated summer 2022 so fill rates can be evaluated in 2023.

References

1. NHS. The NHS Long Term Plan. Long Term Plan. [Online] 2019. Available from: https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/nhs-long-term-plan-version-1.2.pdf.

2. BMA. Investment and Evolution: A five year gramework for GP contract reform to implement the NHS long term plan. England NHS. [Online] 2019. Available from: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/gp-contract-2019.pdf.

3. Community Pharmacy Workforce Development Group. A Review of the Community Pharmacy Workforce. Community Pharmacy Workforce. [Online] 2021. Available from: https://communitypharmacyworkforce.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/cpwdg-report-a-review-of-the-community-pharmacy-workforce-final.pdf.