The best of both worlds — cross-sector preregistration training

Tanya Cullen had the opportunity to split her preregistration training year between community and hospital. In this article, she shares her experiences of working and training in both sectors

I was fortunate enough to be part of Lloydspharmacy‘s first joint preregistration scheme with Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. This means I spent six months training in one of Lloydspharmacy’s community pharmacies and the following six months learning the ropes in the mental health hospital at the trust.

If you are thinking this is unusual, then you would be correct. Currently, no other community pharmacy chain offers this type of joint scheme and only two people got the chance to take part this year (the other is blogger Robert Mustard). If you have an interest in mental health issues and would like an insight into both community and hospital pharmacy then read on about the interesting things I got to do and experience.

Getting going

After graduation, I was ready to start my training in community pharmacy after only a short few weeks’ summer holiday (nothing like the three months I was used to). I was excited that I got to work with a new group of people and see lots of patients.

From July 2010, I spent six months learning and working with the pharmacy team in Newton Aycliffe. This team was so tight-knit and welcoming. After only a week, it felt as though I had been working there for months. With demanding customers, a constantly busy store and unexpected questions, support from the team made all the difference.

A friendly face

Working in community pharmacy is almost all about your customers. To enjoy this work you need to have a desire to work face-to-face with patients. Some of them will visit regularly and you can often develop a positive relationship with them, watch their progress and, therefore, feel like an important part of the community.

We offer in-store health check services such as diabetes screening and blood pressure testing to our customers. I enjoyed taking part in these because it gave me the opportunity to talk to patients and be available for any questions or queries they might have had. Usually, there is a reason why they have come in for the service and they may want to talk to you about it. It is always nice to be a listening ear and support when somebody needs it.

Can you manage?

Perhaps one of the steepest learning curves when going from studying at university to learning in store is acquiring the business management skills you need when working in community pharmacy. Hands-on experience did teach me the nuances of these demands, but Lloydspharmacy also provided training, which I did alongside other preregistration trainees. This was great because it gave me a foundation in the skills I needed and helped me build my network.

It is helpful to spend time with other trainees and hear their stories and different experiences. We have built up a good friendship and I would definitely like to keep in touch with them when we have registered.

Making the move

All too quickly my time in community pharmacy was up and I was off to meet a new team at the mental health trust. Thankfully, the hospital team were also incredibly supportive and made me feel at home quickly. I have always had an interest in mental health conditions so working with those who have them made the training even more interesting.

The differences

Working in the West Park Hospital pharmacy was just as busy as it had been in the community, but in a different way. We spent a large amount of time learning the background of our patients, what medicines they were taking on admission and what they had been taking in the past. When mental health disorders are part of the equation, patients’ backgrounds are a fundamental part of establishing and managing their treatment.

We work closely with the multidisciplinary team within the hospital. This consists of doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, dietitians, psychologists and many more. This gave me great experience in working with other healthcare professionals and always doing our combined best for patients.

It was great to go to different wards with different pharmacists in our team, each with their own ways of working. I got to know them well and we have a fantastic working relationship, with many different personalities that all work so brilliantly together. We would talk to patients about their medicines, answer queries, and check doses and possible interactions.

The hospital was a calmer environment than the community pharmacy and this is ideal for the staff and patients there. A calm environment and atmosphere means our patients are able to concentrate on their recovery, which we always hope will result in their discharge.

Unexpected experiences

In the last month of my training with the mental health trust, I was given the opportunity to work in a general hospital for two weeks. My two tutors (a perk of the joint preregistration scheme) had organised for me to work in another pharmacy environment. I have grown used to working in a small team so being able to work with a larger team was something I had to quickly adapt to.

At one of our other bases, Roseberry Park, I had an interesting experience and was able to work in the forensic department with patients who had committed crimes. This involved looking at cases involving learning disability patients and long-stay patients.

Then, for something totally different, I was also taken to see the workings of a respiratory clinic on a day out with the primary care trust in Durham. Like our mental health patients, these people have special needs and medical histories. I got to learn so much through this experience.

Choices

So now my preregistration year has come to an end and I have just found out I have passed my registration examination. It was helpful to have had such a variety of experiences to reflect on about going forward in my career.

Following my time with the trust, I feel passionate about mental health and the pharmacist’s role in this service. It has changed me as a person and I understand better than ever that these patients are vulnerable and at times have little control over their situation.

Following success in my examination, I look forward to working again in community pharmacy. As strongly as I feel about specialising in mental health treatments one day, I would like to continue improving my broader and varied learning in the community first. I believe I have been given the best of both worlds during my preregistration training.

Tanya Cullen was a preregistration trainee at Lloydspharmacy and Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust