Memorandum 54
Submission from the School of Pharmacy,
University of London
A response to the Innovation, Universities and
Skills Committee inquiry into the Government's decision to phase
out support given to institutions for students taking second qualifications
of an equivalent or lower level (ELQs) to their first qualifications
made by the School of Pharmacy, University of London.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. The School of Pharmacy, University of
London, proposes that pharmacy must be included in the list of
exempt subjects.
2. Planned post-graduate professional development
courses, based on a progression of post-graduate Certificate,
Diploma and Masters qualifications should be exempted from the
ELQ proposals.
BACKGROUND
1. The School of Pharmacy was established
in 1842 by the (then) Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.
It became part of the University of London in 1925 and received
its Royal Charter in 1952.
2. The School of Pharmacy is the only specialist
education institution dedicated to pharmacy. Its mission is to
lead in the provision of education and research in pharmacy and
the pharmaceutical sciences relevant to patients and healthcare
practice, medicines discovery and development, and society. The
School has an outstanding track record in education, being the
only school of pharmacy to have achieved professional accreditation
with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society without conditions, and
has been top-rated for research in all research assessment exercises.
It has embraced widening participation and has been particularly
successful in meeting the needs of students in London and the
South East.
3. Under the ELQ proposals the School of
Pharmacy is ranked 4th in the proportion (15.3%) of mainstream
teaching funding to be withdrawn. It is exceeded only by Birkbeck
College, London Business School and The Open University in institutional
financial impact.
EXEMPTION FOR
THE ENTRY
QUALIFICATION INTO
PHARMACY: THE
MASTER OF
PHARMACY DEGREE
AND POST-GRADUATE
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMMES
4. The case for exemption for pharmacy and
post-graduate professional development programmes has been put
forward by the Council of University Heads of Pharmacy. We strongly
support this case and in this submission make additional points
relevant to our institution.
ISSUES FACED
BY THE
SCHOOL OF
PHARMACY, UNIVERSITY
OF LONDON
AND STUDENTS
WISHING TO
STUDY THERE
5. The School of Pharmacy strongly agrees
with the views put forward by Universities UK to the HEFCE consultation
about the lack of prior consultation with the sector, the "fining"
of institutions for decisions they made legitimately and in good
faith, and the serious destabilising effect on specialist institutions
including the School of Pharmacy, Birkbeck College, the Open University,
the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Institute
of Education.
6. The anomaly of pharmacy not being included
in the list of exempt subjects along with all the other health
professions has been articulated by the Council of University
Heads of Pharmacy. Exemption of pharmacy (the MPharm entry qualification)
would mitigate about 60% of the financial impact on the School
of Pharmacy.
7. As a specialist institution dedicated
to pharmacy, there are only limited options available to the School
of Pharmacy to make good the lost income from the withdrawal of
ELQ funding. As noted in the House of Lords debate on 3 December
(Hansard 696(17),1568), the School's financial structure
will be seriously destabilised by the loss of income which can
only have a negative impact on its ability to continue to contribute
at the highest levels to UK Health Services research and teaching.
8. Pharmacy is a vocational healthcare profession
and the 4-year undergraduate Master of Pharmacy degree qualification
is the only route to registering with the regulator for pharmacy,
the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Pharmacists
are on the UK Skills Shortage Occupations List and the shortage
of pharmacists, not least in the hospital sector, is widely recognised.
9. Many of the students highlighted as ELQ
at the School of Pharmacy have "first" qualifications
in the pharmaceutical area, but the MPharm is the only qualification
leading to registration as a pharmacist. First degrees in chemistry,
medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacology or related
biomedical science predominate.
10. As an institution in London, the School
of Pharmacy forms part of disproportionate "London and South
East effect" whereby more than 40% of ELQs are in this region.
We believe this reflects the diversity of the region. Twenty per
cent of the undergraduate student numbers affected by the ELQ
proposals relate to graduates from Iran, Uganda, Ethiopia, Afghanistan
and Iraq. These students have either been granted British citizenship,
refugee status or indefinite/exceptional leave to remain. Seventy
per cent of these students are women who for religious and cultural
reasons would not be permitted to study away from home.
11. Approximately 40% of the proposed withdraw
of funding relates to the School's work, in partnership with the
NHS, on the post-registration professional development of pharmacists.
Here the ELQ proposals run completely counter to Government policy
on skills, professional development and life-long learning. Within
the NHS, the Agenda for Change career framework is based on escalating
post-graduate qualifications (the Knowledge and Skills Framework).
Under the current proposals, PG Certificates, Diplomas and Masters
are bundled together as equivalent. However, in the context of
planned professional development programmes there is very clear
academic progression between each award and for this reason they
must be exempted. A practitioner (not just in pharmacy) has to
be able to develop from a PG Certificate to a Diploma and then
to a Masters.
12. The work that the School of Pharmacy
is leading, in partnership with other higher education institutions
and the NHS, has been mapped on to all Government policies on
health and clearly supports the "employer engagement"
agenda, yet stands to be undermined by the ELQ proposal.
January 2008
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