Pharmacy Daily | SHPA sets out accreditation stall

PHARMACY organisations are scrambling to attract Australian Association of Consultant Pharmacy (AACP) members to their accreditation programs, with the body being disbanded at the end of the year (PD 26 Sep).

AACP co-owners, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) have said that they will offer separate accreditation programs from next year, with the Guild's accreditation to be provided through the Australasian College of Pharmacy (PD 27 Sep).

However, Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) CEO, Kristin Michaels, said the organisation was "the natural home of Australia's accredited pharmacists, as Australia's only continuously accredited body".

The SHPA has said that it will recognise existing AACP credentials for non-SHPA members who want to transition to its accreditation program for a once-off fee of $390, while SHPA members who have AACP credentials will be able to switch free of charge.

"SHPA is pleased to offer smooth transitions and extensive benefits to former AACP members continuing their accreditation, from flexible recognition and conferred AcSHP postnominals to a raft of new educational pathways, a new national Mar 2023 conference and new recognition through our expanded SHPA awards program," Michaels said.

"The education will include pathways for practitioners becoming accredited pharmacists as well as pharmacists moving into new embedded pharmacist roles in residential aged care.

"We reaffirm our commitment to supporting the unique expertise of accredited pharmacists, and the crucial role they play upholding quality use of medicines and medication safety for patients who are at risk of medication-related harm and hospitalisation, steered by the nation-leading expertise of SHPA Specialty Practice Leadership Committees, especially in Transitions of Care and Primary Care, and Geriatric Medicine."

Following the SHPA's decision to waive its annual re-accreditation fees, in line with a similar move by the AACP (PD 06 Jun), the pharmacists who transition to the SHPA's accreditation program will be eligible for free re-accreditation.