The GEP is inviting pharmacy staff across the UK to help inform future training and education plans in genomics

Health Education England’s Genomics Education Programme (GEP) is seeking views from the pharmacy community as part of its new national health and care workforce survey.

The survey, Genomics in your Practice, is currently open to everyone working in a pharmacy role, including pharmacy technicians, assistants/support staff and pharmacists in the UK.

You can access the survey until Friday 15th April, or read our FAQs below to find out more about what’s involved.

Go to survey (English)
Go to survey (Cymraeg)

Survey FAQs

What is the survey for?

The purpose of the Genomics in your Practice survey is to:

  • assess if and how pharmacy staff currently use genomics;
  • measure self-perceived confidence in their genomics knowledge and skills;
  • evaluate engagement with genomics education and training;
  • understand their intention to use genomics in future practice; and
  • identify future education and training requirements.

Who is doing this work?

The NHS Genomic Medicine Service Alliances and Health Education England’s Genomics Education Programme are carrying this work out as part of fulfilling one of the commitments set out in Genome UK.

Why have I been asked to take part?

We are asking all pharmacy staff, irrespective of level of experience, job role or area of work, to complete the survey. This will enable us to gain a full picture of the pharmacy workforce in relation to genomics.

What will I have to do?

The online survey will ask you a number of questions about you and your role, focusing on your use, or not, of genomic testing. It will also ask you about your confidence in accessing genomic tests and using genomic information to inform your practice. The survey will conclude with questions about how you access education and training information and what topic areas in genomics you would like to learn more about. The survey will not ask for any information that could personally identify you.

The survey will be available online until Friday 15th April. It should take around 15-20 minutes to complete.

How will participating benefit me?

Individually, participating in the survey can help with your CPD planning.

The survey invites you to reflect on how you encounter genomics in your practice and consider your learning and development needs.

Following completion of the survey, we also provide respondents with a ‘genomics learning journey’ – a flexible way to chart your own course in building your knowledge of genomics medicine.

Collectively, the survey results will inform future education and training plans, helping to ensure that educational opportunities in genomics are better aligned to the pharmacy community’s needs.

What if I need help with the survey?

If you encounter any difficulties in accessing or completing the survey, please email the project team.

Who will my information be shared with?

The information you provide will be kept confidential. The only people to see your all your responses will be the GEP team. No personal identifiable data are collected, but any information that could identify you as an individual will not be shared outside of the GEP (see below).

Anonymised data may be shared with Genomics Medicine Service Alliance Pharmacy Leads and local Education and Training Leads.

The data will be kept securely in line with Health Education England’s privacy policy. Any reports written using the data may include some of your comments as quotes; however, you will remain anonymous.

How will my data be used?

By completing the survey, you give your consent for your responses to be collected, stored and analysed, and to be included in reports and other publications. Your information will be kept confidential and data will be presented so that individual respondents cannot be identified. Where necessary, data will be combined so that it not possible to identify individuals in any reports, presentations or summaries.

Can I withdraw my information?

You can withdraw from the survey at any time before selecting ‘Finish survey’ – just close the browser window.

The survey is anonymous so it will not be possible to withdraw your data after you select ‘Finish survey’.

Who has approved this work?

This project has been assessed by the NHS Health Research Authority as not requiring their approval to be carried out. It has been approved by NHS HEE Information Governance.

Will I be able to read the survey results?

We will be publishing a national report on the survey findings in 2022.

Are there plans to survey other professional groups?

We have already surveyed the medical workforce. The intention is to develop future iterations of the Genomics in your Practice workforce survey for other healthcare professional groups, such as nursing and midwifery.

Acknowledgements

This survey has been adapted from a survey developed by the HEE Genomics Education Programme (GEP) for the UK medical community (Genomics in your Practice) that was based on a survey from the Australian Genomics Health Alliance (AGHA). We acknowledge their input and advice while adapting the survey for a UK audience. Click below to read about the findings of the survey team.

Further reading

The development of the UK pharmacy survey has been supported by professionals from across the health service:

Task-and-finish group

  • Dr Hayley Wickens, Consultant Pharmacist Genomic Medicine, Central and South Genomic Medicine Service Alliance (GMSA).
  • James Allen, Chief Pharmacist, Central and South GMSA.
  • Alison Pope, Programme Manager, Genomics Education Programme, Health Education England.
  • Dr Michelle Bishop, Education Development Lead, Genomics Education Programme, Health Education England.
  • Dr Siobhan Simpson, Senior Education & Development Officer, Genomics Education Programme, Health Education England.

Additional reviewers

  • Dharmisha Chauhan, Pharmacy Lead, North Thames GMSA
  • Lucy Galloway, Pharmacy Lead, South East GMSA
  • Fionnuala Green, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
  • Emma Groves, Pharmacy Lead, North East & Yorkshire GMSA
  • Sophie Harding, Velindre Cancer Centre, Cardiff
  • Jessica Keen, Pharmacy Lead, North West GMSA
  • Rachel Palmer, Pharmacy Lead, South West GMSA
  • Nisha Shaunak, Pharmacy Lead, South East GMSA
  • Paul Selby, Clinical Pharmacy Lead, East Genomics
  • Jill Swan, Scottish Pharmacy Clinical Leadership Fellow (SPCLF), NES Education for Scotland

The team would also like to thank all the pharmacy staff who piloted the survey for their time and helpful contributions.

What is the survey for?

The purpose of the Genomics in your Practice survey is to:

  • assess if and how medics currently use genomics;
  • measure self-perceived confidence in their genomics knowledge and skills;
  • evaluate engagement with genomics education and training;
  • understand their intention to use genomics in future practice; and
  • identify future education and training requirements.

We also intend to:

  • repeat the survey every 2-5 years to measure change.

The original survey can be adapted for use internationally. The intention is that the data from each country could be compared to provide a global picture of genomic clinical practice and determine if there are any common trends in relation to education and training requirements.

Who is doing this work?

Health Education England’s Genomics Education Programme is carrying this work out as part of fulfilling one of the commitments set out in Genome UK.

Why have I been asked to take part?

We are asking all practitioners with a medical degree, irrespective of grade or specialism, to complete the survey. This will enable us to gain a full picture of the medical workforce in relation to genomics, not just a few specialisms or grades.

Do I have to take part?

Taking part in this study is completely voluntary. Choosing or declining to take part will not affect you in any way, other than the time taken to complete the survey.

What will I have to do?

The online survey will ask you a number of questions about you and your clinical role, focusing on your use, or not, of genomic testing. It will also ask you about your confidence in accessing genomic tests and using genomic information to inform your clinical practice. The survey finishes by asking some questions about how you access education and training information and what topic areas in genomics you would like to learn more about.

The survey will be available online for four weeks from 23 August 2021.

Who will my information be shared with?

The information you provide will be kept confidential. The only people to see your all your responses will be the GEP team. Any information that could identify you as an individual will not be shared outside of the GEP. You will be asked if some of your information can be shared with local Education and Training Leads, but this is not a mandatory part of the survey and if you do not consent to this, then this information will not be shared.

The data will be kept securely in line with Health Education England’s privacy policy. Any reports written using the data may include some of your comments as quotes; however, you will remain anonymous.

How will my data be used?

By completing the survey, you give your consent for your responses to be collected, stored and analysed, and to be included in reports and other publications. Your information will be kept confidential and data will be presented so that individual respondents cannot be identified. Where there are small numbers of respondents from different specialisms or organisations, data will be combined so that it not possible to identify individuals in any reports, presentations or summaries.

Can I withdraw my information?

You can withdraw from the survey at any time before clicking ‘Finish survey’ – just close the browser window.

If you wish for your responses to be deleted from the survey data after you have clicked “Finish survey”, please contact the GEP team. It will not be possible to withdraw your data from any analyses already conducted, or reports or publications already published, but once your data has been deleted it will not be available to be included in subsequent analyses.

Why are you asking for my GMC number?

This information will allow us to match survey responses from individuals over time, and so track changes in reported clinical activity and personal confidence. It will not be used to identify you and will be replaced by a unique pseudoanonymised identifier.

This information will allow us to match survey responses from individuals over time and track changes in reported clinical activity and personal confidence. It will not be used to identify you and will be replaced by a unique pseudo-anonymised identifier. Only the project team from the Genomics Education Programme will have access to the link between your GMC number and your pseudo-anonymised identifier.

Who has approved this work?

This project has been assessed by the NHS Health Research Authority as not requiring their approval to be carried out. It has been approved by NHS HEE Information Governance.

Will I be able to read the survey results?

We will be publishing a national report on the survey findings in autumn 2021.

Are there plans to survey other professional groups?

The intention is to develop future iterations of the Genomics in your Practice workforce survey for other healthcare professional groups, such as nursing, midwifery and pharmacy.