The Institute of Leadership and Healthcare Management at RCSI today launched an MSc/Postgraduate Diploma in Healthcare Management (Community Pharmacy).

The programme, which has been developed and supported both by the School of Pharmacy at RCSI and Pharmacy Xcelerate Skillnet, is the first of its kind in Ireland. 

Community pharmacy managers, supervising pharmacists and superintendent pharmacists in Ireland must now, under the terms of the Pharmacy Act 2007, supervise a series of processes for improving quality of service and ensuring that they are accountable for their practice. These processes include continuing professional development, evidence-based practice, audit, dealing with poor performance, managing risk, monitoring clinical care and ensuring patient involvement.

The innovative MSc programme will help pharmacists to develop leadership and management skills so that they are able to apply these processes to their practice in order to improve patient care. This programme will also equip community pharmacists with the knowledge and skills necessary to embrace innovation and to deliver new services as envisaged in the new contract with the Health Services Executive.

Professor Ciaran O’Boyle, Director of the Institute of Leadership and Healthcare Management, RCSI commented that it would build on the growing reputation of RCSI as a provider of professional leadership and management development.

Mr John Bourke of Pharmacy Xcelerate Skillnet, the pharmacy led-training and development network, commented he was very pleased to be associated with a new professional development programme for pharmacists. Mr Bourke added that, "in pursuing our goal of supporting managing pharmacists this programme offers a unique opportunity for pharmacists to develop skills necessary for modern community pharmacy, in a cost-effective manner".