PSA Professional Practice Standards

The Professional Practice Standards form an integral component of the QCPP. The PSA publication of the Professional Practice Standards is available from the PSA or the Quality Care Pharmacy Division of the Guild. To purchase through the QCP Division, complete the order form, click here.   

Background to Professional Pharmacy Standards

The Tokyo Declaration of 1993 by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) endorsed international guidelines for "Good Pharmacy Practice" (GPP) and exhorted national pharmaceutical associations to use them as the basis for developing nationally accepted standards of GPP.

The guidelines, subsequently endorsed by the World Health Organization in 1997, recommend that national standards be established in the areas representing the four main elements of GPP.

• the promotion of health and avoidance of ill-health, and achievement of health objectives;

• supply and use of medicines, medication delivery devices and related items;

• provision of advice and/or supply of medicines for self care of symptoms or ailments; and

• activities that influence the quality of prescribing or use of medicines.

Practice standards have been variously defined, but their purpose is to ensure that professional activities are performed to an agreed level. They also play an important part in the measurement of quality of service to the consumer. It is now well accepted that the practice of pharmacy must be patient-centred and focus on improving health outcomes. The application of professional practice standards is a tangible means by which the profession can demonstrate its commitment to ensuring that health care services and products delivered to consumers are of reliable quality. They are an important part of the profession's responsibility to consumers and contribute to consumer confidence in the profession.

Standards for Competency versus Quality Standards

In developing the Professional Practice Standards, the relationship between competency and quality standards was explored. Briefly, competency can be described as skills attained by an individual based on knowledge (through university) and experience (gained through subsequent practice) which are considered sufficient to enable the individual to practise as a pharmacist. On the other hand, quality standards relate to the systems and information used by individuals to achieve a level of conformity and uniformity for a given practice. The attainment of a professional qualification versus the practice of pharmacy to a set of professional standards highlights the distinction between the two types of standards. The adoption of quality standards ensures that the skills acquired are executed to a level of consistency identified as essential for the delivery of a professional service.

The Professional Practice Standards address quality of service delivery. There is an inherent assumption that the pharmacist using the standards to assess their professional standards is competent as a pharmacist. The delivery of professional services requires both competence and quality if the service is to be delivered
to a standard that is acceptable to both consumers and professional peers, has credibility from a professional sense and meets all regulatory requirements. 

The absence of either may jeopardise the ability to deliver services in a manner that fulfils the pharmacist's primary responsibility of maximising the health outcomes for patients and consumers. 

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