Quality Management in Pharmacy Pre-registration Training: Recommendations for the Future

Background: This work forms part of a review of pharmacy education and training undertaken by the pharmacy regulator in the U.K.. It is the last in a series of three papers describing a review of quality management systems for pharmacy pre-registration training in the U.K.. Aims: To synthesise the data collected in the first two stages of the study and with key pharmacy stakeholders identify specific quality management strategies for implementation in the pharmacy pre-registration year. Methods: Interim analysis of data collected from questionnaires and interviews to produce a preliminary set of recommendations which were presented for discussion at a stakeholder meeting. Results: The stakeholders agreed to the recommendations with a number of provisos. There was support amongst stakeholders for a national quality management system in pharmacy that applies to all sectors. Conclusion: This paper makes some general recommendations for the Pharmacy Pre-registration Scheme. What is now needed is clarification of the infrastructure within which the quality management systems are to be implemented. This will then allow a quality management system to be built defining the roles and responsibilities of each level of organisation within the infrastructure.