The president of the UK Black Pharmacist Association (UKBPA) has welcomed the change in proposed training routes for internationally qualified pharmacists.

This comes as the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has scrapped its proposals for a three-route system that had come under fire for potentially being unfair.

Instead, the GPhC has now proposed a single, one-year route to register internationally qualified pharmacists, which combines both theory and practice, and would come into force from September 2026 at the earliest.

Sam Appiah-Anane, UKBPA president, told The Pharmacist that the organisation welcomed the unification of training routes for internationally qualified pharmacists.

'We as [an] organisation are looking forward to using our voices and experiences to shape the new OSPAP [Overseas Pharmacists' Assessment Programme] course,' he added.

Proposed changes to training internationally qualified pharmacists

Currently, all international pharmacists must complete a one-year Overseas Pharmacists' Assessment Programme (OSPAP) course, followed by a practical foundation training year.

Earlier this year, the GPhC proposed three different routes for pharmacists who had trained internationally to register in the United Kingdom.

For pharmacists from countries including India, Pakistan and Nigeria, the two years of study and practice were to be combined into one 12-month course. And two shorter routes for pharmacists from countries where pharmacist education and training was deemed to be more similar to pharmacist education and training in Great Britain were also suggested.

'Potential for indirect discrimination'

The three-route proposal was previously criticised as 'troubling' by the UKBPA, which suggested that the plans held 'the potential for indirect discrimination against aspiring members of the UK pharmacy workforce who have received their education in Africa'.

'We firmly believe that any changes to entry requirements should be merit-based and equitable, irrespective of the country where an individual's pharmacy degree was earned', the UKBPA board added in a letter to members in March this year.

'It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the pharmacy workforce remains diverse, inclusive, and reflective of the global community we serve,' it added.

Single 12 month course now proposed for all candidates

Last week Duncan Rudkin, chief executive of the GPhC, announced that only the one-year programme, which had been proposed for students 'from countries such as India, Pakistan and Nigeria' would now be taken forwards for all candidates.

And shortening the current two-year course to be just twelve months 'will significantly reduce the burden for internationally-qualified pharmacists and help to increase the pharmacist workforce in the long-term', Mr Rudkin hoped.

He said that stakeholders had 'generally welcomed' previous proposals 'to reduce the length of time and cost to complete the required education and training', but that 'some concerns were also raised about the fairness of the original proposals'.

'Our council has listened to these concerns. As an organisation we’re committed to delivering equality, improving diversity and being inclusive in all our work as a healthcare regulator and an employer. We want to make sure that all our proposals and policies protect the public and maintain standards in ways that are demonstrably inclusive and equitable.

'Our council has therefore decided to propose having one single route to registration for all (non-EEA/EFTA) internationally-qualified pharmacists,' he said.

Last year, the GPhC raised concerns that all courses for the Overseas Pharmacists' Assessment Programme (OSPAP) starting in 2023 and 2024 were oversubscribed, despite workforce shortages in the sector.

The GPhC said it was now developing the detail of its proposed approach, 'as well as drafting updated standards for the education and training of internationally-qualified pharmacists, ahead of full public consultation', which The Pharmacist understands is expected to take place next year.

This will take place with the help of a reconvened working group including representatives from statutory education bodies, OSPAP providers and other university representatives, the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland, employers, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the UK Black Pharmacists Association, and other representative bodies.

The regulator also clarified that international applicants would still need to pass the UK registration exam, in addition to the OSPAP.