Skills Development Providers

In terms of Section 3 of the Pharmacy Act, 53 of 1974, one of the legislative mandates of Council is to establish, develop, maintain and control universally acceptable standards of pharmaceutical education. Furthermore, in terms of the provisions of Sections 33 and 34 of the Pharmacy Act, 53 of 1974, Council is required to approve pharmacy education and training that entitles a person to registration in terms of the Act. This is achieved by, among other things, monitoring inspections of SDPs.

The monitoring visits are conducted every three (3) years for SDPs offering the occupational certificate qualification. SDPs accredited to offer the National Certificate: Pharmacist Assistance and Further Education and Training Certificate: Pharmacist Assistance are visited biennially (once every two years). SDPs are required to complete and submit a Quality Management System document to Council at least 30 days prior to a monitoring visit. The submitted document will be utilised as the institution’s self-assessment during the visit.

Council developed the Accreditation/monitoring visit instrument for SDPs offering the Occupational Certificate to complete and submit to Council at least 30 days prior to the visit. The monitoring visits are conducted every three years for SDPs offering the Occupational Certificate qualification.

The report for the visits outlines shortcomings and timelines for response or mitigating the shortcomings. Depending on the shortcomings identified, the outcome of the visit might be:

• Full accreditation
• Not accredited
• Preliminary accreditation

The panel members are trained on the accreditation/monitoring visit instrument and report writing, prior to conducting visits. Panel members are to declare a conflict of interest and must sign a non-disclosure agreement.