CMHP Competencies
1. Professional expertise in drug therapy
in psychiatry/mental health
A CMHP specialist
pharmacist will be able to demonstrate and apply a thorough knowledge of drug
treatment of major mental illnesses. The candidate will be able to:
1a. Demonstrate knowledge
of the relevant pharmaceutical aspects of drug treatment choice:
1b. Demonstrate knowledge
of pharmacodynamics
1c. Demonstrate knowledge
of pharmacokinetics
1d. Demonstrate knowledge
of pharmacoeconomics
1e. Demonstrate knowledge
of drug interactions
1f. Demonstrate awareness
of the principles of prescribing quality
1g. Demonstrate an
appreciation of the prescribing issues associated with special patient groups
1h. Demonstrate the
ability to apply knowledge of drug treatments to clinical situations
1i. Interpret published
papers
2. Demonstrate thorough knowledge of mental illness
A CMHP specialist
pharmacist will be able to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of mental
illnesses. The candidate will be able to demonstrate knowledge of:
2a. Classification
(symptoms/description)
2b. Epidemiology
2c. Course and prognosis
2d. Pathology
2e. Biological and
psychological theories of mental illness
3. Communication within multidisciplinary and user forum/fora
A CMHP specialist
pharmacist will be able to demonstrate evidence of effective communication
skills:
3a. Evidence of productive
involvement within a multidisciplinary environment
3b. Medicines information
3c. Experience of
productive communication with service users
3d. Demonstrate clear,
concise and effective written and oral communication skills
4. Legislation and politics
A CMHP specialist
pharmacist will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the legislative and
political influence on mental health care provision:
4a. Knowledge of relevant
mental health legislation
4b. Demonstrate knowledge
of the political philosophy influencing mental health care in their own country
5. Service provision and development
A CMHP specialist
pharmacist will be able to demonstrate active involvement in the provision and
development of the pharmaceutical aspects of mental health care:
5a. Demonstrate a wide
experience of the provision of pharmaceutical services in mental health
5b. Be
able to plan local service development to meet changing needs in mental health
care:
6. Care
A CMHP specialist
pharmacist will be able to demonstrate a commitment to care and an empathy with
people with mental health needs:
6a. Demonstrate a
commitment to patient care
6b. Show empathy to
patients in their approach to provision of services
7. Vision and initiative
A CMHP specialist
pharmacist will be able to demonstrate a vision for the future development of
pharmaceutical mental health care:
7a. Demonstrate initiative
in their work
7b. Show a clear vision
for personal and service development in the future of pharmaceutical mental
health services
DETAILED
COMPETENCES
1. Professional expertise in drug therapy
in psychiatry/mental health
A CMHP specialist
pharmacist will be able to demonstrate and apply a thorough knowledge of drug
treatment of major mental illnesses. The candidate will be able to:
1a. Demonstrate
knowledge of the relevant pharmaceutical aspects of drug treatment choice:
- Name the main licensed treatment options for
the major ICD-10/DSM-IV mental health conditions
- Explain the current theories for their probable
modes of action, where of established credibility
- List the major licence
restrictions and/or contraindications for each
- List the important (SPC requirements and good
practice) monitoring requirements for those drugs
- List the main adverse effects that would be
expected for three specified drugs
- Evaluate claims of efficacy and safety for
these three drugs
- List reasons for selection of a particular drug
for a particular individual patient from these drugs e.g. discuss the
evidence base
- List the possible advantages and disadvantages
of the use of combinations of drugs in three major mental health disorders
- State the normal therapeutic dose for three
licensed psychotropic drugs (oral, IM/IV)
- Describe at least five occasions when the
candidate was influential in the choice of a drug in a particular patient
(through a log of events over a specified period of practice e.g. three
months and submitted in the portfolio)
- State the tools (if any) available to evaluate
the potential therapeutic effects of drugs
1b. Demonstrate
knowledge of pharmacodynamics
- Define the term "pharmacodynamics"
- Explain in simple terms how this might be of
clinical significance to an individual patient
1c. Demonstrate
knowledge of pharmacokinetics
- Explain the principles of (first and second)
order kinetics, with examples
- Explain how plasma levels vary with time for
various routes of administration
- Define the term ADME (absorption, distribution,
metabolism, excretion) and explain it in simple terms
- Explain in simple terms how ADME might be of
clinical significance to an individual patient
1d. Demonstrate
knowledge of pharmacoeconomics
- List the fundamental issues associated with a pharmacoeconomic analysis of drug therapy
- Describe in the portfolio two pharmacoeconomic studies and their relevance,
importance and weaknesses
1e. Demonstrate
knowledge of drug interactions
- Identify and evaluate important categories of
drug-drug and drug-food interactions, and the influence of the P450 and
other liver enzyme systems
- List two interactions from each of three
selected groups of drugs or identify interactions from a given list of
drugs
1f. Demonstrate
awareness of the principles of prescribing quality
- List the main principles of drug prescribing
- Provide an example of a prescribing protocol
with which the pharmacist has been involved and be able to justify and
constructively criticise OR, if not available,
provide an example of another prescribing protocol and be able to justify
and criticise it
- List three published studies on prescribing
quality and evaluate the implications for local practice
- Give at least five examples in the last six
months where an "intervention" into prescribing was necessary,
and explain how the principles of prescribing were applied (through a log
of events over a specified period of practice e.g. three months and
submitted in the portfolio)
1g. Demonstrate an
appreciation of the prescribing issues associated with special patient groups
- Select five special patient groups from a
specified list
- For each of the five groups, list three issues
or cautions surrounding the prescribing of medicines
1h. Demonstrate the
ability to apply knowledge of drug treatments to clinical situations
- List the principles of preparing a drug history
and
- Answer a telephone helpline call and provide
appropriate adviceor
- Negotiate a drug therapy change with a clinician
- Provide and evaluate five examples of occasions
within the last six months where the candidate has operated as a full
member of a multidisciplinary team
1i. Interpret published
papers
- Demonstrate an understanding of the application
of medical statistics
2. Demonstrate thorough knowledge of mental illness
A CMHP specialist
pharmacist will be able to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of mental
illnesses. The candidate will be able to demonstrate knowledge of:
2a. Classification
(symptoms/description)
- List the main symptoms of the major
ICD-10/DSM-IV mental health conditions
- State the difference between ICD-10 and DSM-IV
2b. Epidemiology
- List the main epidemiological characteristics
of five major ICD-10 or DSM-IV illnesses
- Illustrate these with examples from the
candidates local area
2c. Course and
prognosis
- List the likely time-course and prognosis for
five major DSM-IV or ICD-10 mental illnesses
- Indicate the likely influence of drug therapy
on these five
2d. Pathology
- List main uses and limitations of laboratory
tests
- State the main categories of biochemical tests
carried out for a selection of drugs
- List two tests in each category, and for each
of them identify influences of illness and drug therapy
2e. Biological and psychological
theories of mental illness
- List three non-drug or psychological therapies
used in mental health care
- Briefly describe their roles in therapy and
inter-relationship with prescribed drugs
3. Communication within multidisciplinary and user forum/fora
A CMHP specialist
pharmacist will be able to demonstrate evidence of effective communication
skills:
3a. Evidence of
productive involvement within a multidisciplinary environment
- Name the key members of a MDT or local
equivalent, and describe their roles and expertise and the role of a
pharmacist
- Describe the main structure of medical and
nursing notes
- List the main principles of the Care Planning
Approach (CPA)
- Describe three occasions in the last year when
drug therapy had been discussed by the candidate with other professional
groups
- List the main types of hospital, practice and
Health Authority formularies, and describe how exclusion or inclusion
criteria might be developed within the candidates own setting
3b. Medicines
information
- State the sources of information available to
support an evidence-based approach to prescribing, and list their
advantages and disadvantages
- Discuss the use and application of IT to
retrieve, record, assess and communicate medicine information
- Describe the categories and levels of medicine
information
- Describe the categories and levels of evidence
(as in NSF)
3c. Experience of
productive communication with service users
- Describe two occasions when drugs have been
discussed with users or user groups
- List the issues raised by those groups and the
candidates responses to them
- List the principles behind therapeutic
alliances with patients and give two personal examples
- Describe how an individual's needs for
education about drug treatment would be assessed and how different needs
might be addressed
3d. Demonstrate clear,
concise and effective written and oral communication skills
- Provide three examples of written pieces of
work for different audiences (e.g. GPs, Hospital specialists, managers,
nurses, users etc) in which the main issues can be clearly identified.
- Demonstrate effective communication skills with
a service user
- Negotiate a change in drug therapy for a given
patient
- List four main ways in which information can be
provided to fellow healthcare professionals, and provide an example of
each the candidate has used in the last year.
4. Legislation and politics
A CMHP specialist
pharmacist will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the legislative and
political influence on mental health care provision:
4a. Knowledge of
relevant mental health legislation
- List the main sections of the relevant Mental
Health Act :
- Describe the role of the pharmacist within the
relevant MHA
4b. Demonstrate
knowledge of the political philosophy influencing mental health care in their
own country (relevant items from this list)
- Describe the Governments current strategy for
mental health care
- List the seven main standards within the
National Service Framework for mental health (or your countries
equivalent), and the implications for pharmacy
- Describe the implications for pharmaceutical
care of:
- Bournewood Judgement
- Caldicotte
- Access to Health Records Act
- Medical records and confidentiality
- Clinical governance
- NICE/National Standards Board for
- Primary Care Groups and Trusts
- Supervision registers
- Assertive outreach
5. Service provision and development
A CMHP specialist
pharmacist will be able to demonstrate active involvement in the provision and
development of the pharmaceutical aspects of mental health care:
5a. Demonstrate a wide
experience of the provision of pharmaceutical services in mental health
- Explain the pharmacist's roles in two mental
health specialties, including external factors (e.g. legislation), MDT,
place of drugs and other therapies, factors affecting drug choice
- For each area listed above, describe four
examples where the candidate has had a positive input.
- Describe three other specialties, giving the
pharmaceutical aspects and implications of care
- List three non-NHS statutory or non-statutory
bodies or agencies that provide some level mental health "care"
in the candidates locality and describe their roles and importance
- Describe the principles of clinical audit
5b. Be
able to plan local service development to meet changing needs in mental health
care:
- Describe examples of two proposed service
developments, including objectives, business plans, proposed measures of
success etc (the candidate does not need to have been directly involved)
- Describe how these could be, or could have
been, implemented and the problems likely to be encountered
- List three main developments (from different
levels of organisation e.g. department, Trust, Authority/Board) occurring
in mental health care provision locally and how pharmacy services could or
should react to these
6. Care
A CMHP specialist
pharmacist will be able to demonstrate a commitment to care and an empathy with
people with mental health needs:
6a. Demonstrate a
commitment to patient care
- List three occasions in the last six months
when the candidate has provided a commitment to provide individual
pharmaceutical care
- Describe the outcome for the patient and/or carer(s) for each occasion
6b. Show empathy to
patients in their approach to provision of services
- Outline the cultural and gender issues in
mental illness
- Describe the application of the principles and
practices of anti-discriminatory and anti-racist practice
- List the main issues and implications of
patient confidentiality
7. Vision and initiative
A CMHP specialist
pharmacist will be able to demonstrate a vision for the future development of
pharmaceutical mental health care:
7a. Demonstrate
initiative in their work
- Describe five examples (within at least three
different categories) within the last year of occasions when personal
initiative was used to improve the pharmaceutical care for an individual
patient or group of patients
7b. Show a clear vision
for personal and service development in the future of pharmaceutical mental
health services
- Describe how the candidate would like their own
service (either as head or a team member) to develop over the next five
years
- Describe what the development needs are for
themselves or others to facilitate this, how they might be achieved and
the problems likely to be encountered
- Describe the service development needs to
achieve this
- List some of the areas where development of the
pharmacists role might occur in psychiatry/pharmacy in general
- Demonstrate a commitment to Continuous Personal
Development through a log of activities over the previous year
Notes:
- Some of these items are part of the portfolio
and some will be assessed through the viva.
- Holders of the Certificate or Diploma may be
able to use data gathered from their portfolios for items in this list as
mentioned in the portfolio document.
- This list of competencies will be subject to
continuous review to ensure it meets the needs of the CMHP to accredit
members in lines with the principles of Clinical Governance.
31.5.01