Public Consultation on draft Pharmacists Registration (Amendment) Bill

11 Jun 2007

The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Singapore Pharmacy Board (SPB) are proposing to amend the Pharmacists Registration Act (PRA) to ensure that it is relevant to the current practice and new developments in the field of pharmacy.

The key amendments introduced include compulsory continuing professional education for pharmacists, the setting up of a Pharmacist Specialists Register, and the introduction of a more rigorous disciplinary proceedings framework. The amendments will include the conversion of the current Singapore Pharmacy Board to a new statuary body known as the Singapore Pharmacy Council.

Objectives of Amendments to the Act

Continuing Professional Education (CPE)
The proposed introduction of CPE, or lifelong learning, is intended to ensure that pharmacists in Singapore keep current with the latest knowledge and developments in medicine, pharmacy and biomedical sciences. In order to continue providing quality healthcare and optimised drug therapy, pharmacists must maintain the highest standard of professional competence by keeping abreast with the progress of pharmaceutical knowledge.

Register of pharmacists specialists
The Ministry hopes that by establishing a new Register of Pharmacists Specialists, and recognising pharmacists for their qualification, expertise and experience in specialty fields, this would encourage members of the profession to develop and excel in specific areas of pharmacy practice.

Conditional and temporary registration
In the global race to attract talent, the proposed introduction of conditional and temporary registration will give the Singapore Pharmacy Council greater flexibility to register foreign-trained pharmacists, who may contribute to the rapidly developing pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors in Singapore.

Disciplinary framework
With the growth and development of a more sophisticated pharmacy practice, the Ministry anticipates that the profession will in future face more complex professional misconduct and ‘fitness to practise’ issues. As such, it proposes to introduce a more rigorous professional disciplinary framework. This is in line with the systems in place for the medical, dental and nursing professions.

Public Consultation

MOH would now like to seek the views and feedback of the public, pharmacy professionals and the professional society on the draft Pharmacists Registration Bill. The public consultation document is attached and can also be found on the MOH website at http://www.moh.gov.sg/mohcorp/econsultation.aspx. All feedback should reach the Ministry by 6 July 2007.