Introduction:

Simulation Based Learning (SBL) is a relatively new concept in the Pharmacy profession [1]. In 2024, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) has made participation in SBL mandatory for Foundation Training Year Pharmacists and those completing the NES General Practice Clinical Pharmacist (GPCP) framework. The aim of this project was threefold: to determine if this type of education could be offered to all Pharmacists working in Primary Care, to evaluate the benefits to Pharmacists’ development and to determine if it could be delivered out with a dedicated simulation suite.

Methods:

The first step was to describe the concept of SBL to the Pharmacy team and explore how it may be beneficial in the development of Pharmacists. The next step was to determine whether there was a suitable location locally to deliver SBL within a Primary Care setting. In keeping with the NES initiative to enhance pharmacy education using SBL, we conducted a pilot study. We initially carried out one session with 4 participants, each doing one scenario focussing on non-technical skills. The plus/delta model was used to de-brief the scenario. Participants were given a pre and post evaluation survey, seeking their views on how they felt before and after participating in SBL, with questions focussing on their confidence in certain areas.

Results:

The session ran smoothly, showing that the logistics of delivering SBL within a Primary Care setting, and out with a dedicated simulation suite was possible. The pre and post evaluation surveys showed that Pharmacist confidence grew in terms of general review of patients, clinical decision making, managing complex patients and giving/receiving feedback from colleagues. This SBL has now been extended out to several other Primary Care Pharmacy teams within the health board, showing similar increased levels of Pharmacist confidence in the above areas.

Discussion:

SBL is a valuable tool to support the development of Pharmacists within Primary Care. We recommend the use of SBL across the Pharmacy profession, including those working in different sectors, and at different grades e.g. pharmacy technicians.

Ethics statement:

Authors confirm that all relevant ethical standards for research conduct and dissemination have been met. The submitting author confirms that relevant ethical approval was granted, if applicable.

References

1. Lloyd M, Watmough S, Bennett N. Simulation-based training: applications in clinical pharmacy. The Pharmaceutical Journal. 2018.

Acknowledgments:

Acknowledgements to Andrew Christopherson and Neil McGowan from NHS GG&C, and also the NES simulation team for their support.