Kia ora koutou
Welcome to our last newsletter of the year and what a year it has been! We appreciate 2022 has been another challenging year for many, despite us all starting the year hoping it would be otherwise. We would like to acknowledge the great work delivered across the sector, as pharmacist teams have continued to serve the needs of their communities.
To help bringing some relief to that pressure where it was most needed, the Council administered an extension to the Pharmacy Team Relief Fund on behalf of the Ministry of Health in August. This fund has been fully subscribed. A huge thank you to everyone who has provided locum services. Without your willingness to move around and support your colleagues, this would not have been the success that it has been.
We would also like to acknowledge the help, support and valuable input provided to Council’s work. A big focus this year has been the review and development of new standards. We received wide ranging feedback throughout consultation processes and would like to thank everyone who provided a submission. We would also like to pay particular thanks to the advisory groups who made this work possible. The collaborative approach to developing the new standards has only served to strengthen them. This work has been led to date by Dr Jerome Ng, who unfortunately has completed his contract with Council. We are delighted Dr Owain George will now be leading the next phase of ensuring the standards are understood before they come into effect in April 2024.
Alongside the standards work, Council has made good progress this year on our journey to being a better Te Tiriti o Waitangi partner. This includes extensive work with our Te Tiriti Advisory Group. In the early phases of this work, Sir John Clarke was a great kaitiaki for us, in the role of Chair of the advisory group. With our gratitude for his leadership, Sir John has made a move to lighten his commitments. We will commence a recruitment process for additional members for the Te Tiriti Advisory Group in the new year.
Many of you may have seen recent coverage of the results of the November Assessment Centre. It was concerning to have to announce much fewer numbers of interns passing this time than for any previous Assessment Centre. Council has reviewed the examination set for the interns and is confident that the processes for examination were at a high standard. There are potentially several contributing factors to fewer passing this last assessment, including Covid-related pressures on the practical experience of interns. Improving success rates of interns will be the focus of the next forum we will host with educator providers in early 2023. You can read more on Assessment Centre results in our media release.
This is our first newsletter for some time, sorry. We too have experienced pressures, taking some time to find the right expertise to support our communications in a tight labour market. You can meet our new Senior Communications Advisor and members of the team in new roles below, along with further articles, tips and notices.
We hope you enjoy this newsletter, and on behalf of the Council’s members and operational team, we want to wish you and your whānau a very Meri Kirihimete me ngā mihi o te Tau Hou. We trust that you will get opportunity to have some form of rest and relaxation over the festive period.
| Ngā mihi Arthur Bauld (Chair) right and Michael Pead (CE) left |
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Holiday shutdown – get prepared if you need an APC
The Council’s office will be closed from 5.00pm 22 December to 9 January 2023.
If you require an Annual Practicing Certificate dated 23 December 2022 or later, please get your application in by 17 December 2022. Applications received after 17 December through to 8 January 2023 may not be processed until 13 January 2023.
Council has a new permanent office
After spending just over five years in temporary offices following the shift out of our original home due to the Kaikōura earthquake, we have finally moved into a permanent office. We are located now at Level 7, Qual IT House, 22 The Terrace, Wellington.
The selection of the building and the decision to continue to locate in Wellington was extensively researched and considered over the last two years.
Council is extremely fortunate to share the new office space with the Dental Council. It is great to be able to share the cost in much of the required infrastructure.
December 2022 – Articles
Changes at Council – meet the team
There have been a few changes in roles and new people joining the Council. Find out a bit more about them and their roles.
Pharmacy organisations hui
There have been some important meetings happening supporting collaboration across the sector, including a Council and Society meeting, and we held another quarterly hui.
Read about the engagement activity that has been underway
Results of final tranche of funding (at December 2022)
A total of 1,790 pharmacist hours and 1,221 technician hours was allocated to 39 applicant pharmacies right across the country since August 2022 in the final tranche of relief funding.
Read the update on the Pharmacy Team Relief Fund
Workforce Demographic Report
We have published the annual demographic report that overviews pharmacy practitioners in Aotearoa New Zealand. The report provides the latest data from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022. The report shows that the number of practising pharmacists grew by 1.4 percent over the year.
Read the 2022 Workforce Demographics report
Community pharmacists’ belief about suboptimal practice during the times of Covid-19
In late 2021, Auckland University’s School of Pharmacy conducted research with 260 pharmacists. The results show a concerning rise in risk of sub-optimal practice, especially given the pressures of Covid-19 on workplaces.
MyRecert – how did the first year go?
Council has completed its evaluation of MyRecert for the 2021-22 year. Pharmacists did a good job meeting the requirements of the new system.
Read about the results of the MyRecert evaluation
Dealing with complaints
Read our latest article providing regulatory advice to support your practice as a pharmacist.
Response to public consultation on standards
Thank you to the groups and individuals who responded to the public consultations to develop new accreditation standards and guidance, pharmacist competence standards, and pharmacist prescriber competence standards.
Read about the response and next steps
Removal of name from the register
Each year we attempt to contact pharmacists who have not updated their registration status. This is a final attempt to make contact before removing them from the register. Do you want to stay on the register or know someone who may want to maintain a registered status?
Please check the list of pharmacists
Published 16 December 2022