The General Level Framework: use in primary care and community pharmacy to support professional development

Abstract

Objectives To compare practice pharmacists and community pharmacists based on the use of the General Level Framework (GLF) as a tool to support continuing professional development (CPD). Setting Primary care and community pharmacy in London and the East of England. Method The study pharmacists were self-selected after distribution of recruitment packs in the study area through local pharmaceutical committees, primary care trusts and two large multiples. Sixty-nine pharmacists used the framework to support their CPD (42 community pharmacists and 27 with a role in primary care pharmacy). Pharmacists made an initial self-assessment against the GLF and then used the framework over a 12-month period to identify learning needs for CPD. Pharmacists identified their desired performance levels for the behaviours in the framework, based on guidance from the project team, and then identified their learning needs by comparing the desired performance level with their self-assessment. Pharmacists were visited at 4 and 8months by a trained facilitator to support their self-assessment and progress with CPD. Final self-assessments were collected at 12months. Assessment ratings for the delivery of patient-care competencies were compared. Key findings There was no difference in the probability of either group achieving their desired performance level (log rank = 0.023, 1 df, P = 0.878): pharmacists achieved their desired performance level irrespective of their sector of work, demonstrating the applicability of the GLF to the different sectors of practice. Practice pharmacists had a higher aggregated score for the desired performance levels than the community pharmacists (Mann-Whitney U = 10.500, P < 0.001; median = 133.0 and 119.5 respectively). Conclusion Both groups of pharmacists were able to apply the framework to their practice and use it to support their CPD, resulting in increasing self-assessed competency scores over time. The higher desired performance level for practice pharmacists compared with community pharmacists conveys a difference, perceived or actual, between the two roles. Irrespective of the difference in desired performance levels, both groups of pharmacists have improved, to meet their level of expectation, over the 12-month period.