Technician training bridges the skill gap

Hammersmith Medicines Research (HMR), a company that carries out clinical trials on potential new medicines, has created an award-winning training programme for nurses and technicians.

Based at the Central Middlesex Hospital, London, the private company conducts early clinical trials on healthy people for pharmaceutical companies. It has grown rapidly since 1993, and now has 170 staff.

“As HMR grew further, we found it harder to recruit enough nurses because of the national shortage,” said Dr Malcolm Boyce, managing and clinical director. “We therefore decided to recruit more technicians than nurses and to train the technicians to do many of the things normally done by nurses.”

The company created its own qualification – the Certificate of Personal and Professional Development (CPPD) in Clinical Pharmacology Practice. The 18-month course, which won a National Training Award in 2004, is based on HMR standard operating procedures, and meets the “good clinical practice”requirements of the pharmaceutical companies HMR works for. It was designed with the help of Thames Valley University, which has validated the course, and is endorsed by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.

The course helps staff to develop skills in practical clinical pharmacology– the scientific discipline underpinning clinical trials. It tests their ability to think to the level required for the third year of a university degree.

“The course has made a big difference to staff who have completed it”,said Geraldine Landers, staff-training manager. “They work more confidently and apply what they have learned to their everyday activities on the wards.”

HMR was well prepared when good clinical practice became law under the EU Clinical Trials Directive.