NPA urges members to support displaced pharmacists from Ukraine

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has urged its members to support the displaced pharmacists from Ukraine if they are approached for employment.

The NPA has recommended two ways of registration for displaced pharmacists from Ukraine, one - via registration in an EEA country listed in Annex V, section 5.6.2 of Directive 2005/36/EC.

This would depend on the registration requirements of the EEA country, but if the individual was able to register in an EEA country first, they could then apply for recognition of their qualification by the GPhC and apply to join the register in Great Britain. All actions would need to be completed by 31 December 2022.

Secondly, via the Overseas Pharmacists’ Assessment Programme (OSPAP). This would require: Applying to the GPhC for eligibility to undertake OSPAP; One-year OSPAP; 52 weeks’ pre-registration training; registration assessment.

Both registration routes would also require evidence of English language competence.

The Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU) has condemned Russia’s “unprecedented military aggression against Ukraine” and shared their solidarity with their Ukrainian colleagues and the Ukrainian people in a statement last week.

They said European community pharmacists come together to condemn the attacks and pharmacy organisations across Europe have been raising funds and have supported ongoing humanitarian actions, including through donations of medical equipment identified as most needed by the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.

The PGEU is the voice of Community Pharmacy in Brussels and represents the community pharmacy perspective in relation to legislative and policy initiatives at EU level which affect the profession and public health. The NPA and Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI) are the UK members.

The Ukrainian delegation to the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU) gave the following update, at a meeting attended by the NPA’s Policy Manager, Helga Mangion:

• The situation is very bad, with a number of pharmacies closing either as a result of pharmacists not being able to reach their place of work, or because of lack of medicines.
• There is an issue with a large number of patients (displaced people) who are travelling without medicines. In many cases they do not possess a full list of their records, hence, a number of receiving countries have set up translation services for their pharmacies to ensure that refugees can continue to receive the appropriate treatment.

Helga Mangion said: “It is so sad to hear from our counterparts in Ukraine about the dangerous conditions for pharmacists and patients alike. Here in the UK we need to step up our preparations for meeting the pharmaceutical needs of refugees arriving here.”