Advanced pharmacist practice is central to delivering complex patient care and developing the future NHS workforce. Structured support for hospital pharmacists to develop practice aligned with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Advanced Core Curriculum and progress towards credentialing remains limited. We describe an innovative multi-site pilot across four hospitals within Barts Health NHS Trust (The Royal London, St Bartholomew's, Whipps Cross, and Newham University Hospitals) designed to support pharmacists developing advanced practice portfolios.
Eight pharmacists (Bands 7&, 8a and 8b) volunteered for the 12-month structured programme. Participants attend monthly support sessions delivered through a blended model of face-to-face and virtual meetings. Sessions provide mentorship, peer discussion, reflective practice, and practical guidance to help participants create and map evidence across the four pillars of practice: clinical practice, leadership and management, education, and research. Participants are also supported to build portfolios aligned with the RPS credentialing process.
Baseline data was collected via a pre-participation survey assessing confidence across advanced practice domains. Motivations for joining included career progression, personal development, and preparation for consultant-level practice. Initial findings (n=7) showed high confidence in clinical practice and education, with five participants also confident in leadership. Research and quality improvement were the lowest confidence domains, with three participants reporting low confidence.
The survey will be repeated at mid-point and completion to evaluate changes in confidence, capability and engagement with credentialing. This pilot represents a novel organisational approach to embedding advanced practice frameworks within hospital pharmacy and offers a potential scalable model for supporting pharmacist workforce development across NHS organisations.