Audit Support and Recertification
Recertification is annual and evidence-based
Every pharmacist practising in New Zealand holds an annual practising certificate (APC) from the Pharmacy Council, renewed each year. Renewal is not a formality: you declare that you remain competent, that you have met the Council's continuing professional development (CPD) requirements, and that you have disclosed anything the Council needs to know - for example health matters affecting practice, criminal charges or complaints.
What good CPD evidence looks like
- Each entry records date, activity, hours and - critically - a reflection linking it to a competence standard and to a change in your practice.
- Activities must be relevant to your scope; a supplier lunch-and-learn with no reflection is weak evidence.
- Keep original evidence (certificates, attendance records, notes) as it accrues, not reconstructed at audit time.
The audit
The Council audits a sample of APC holders each year. You may be asked to submit your CPD record and supporting evidence for a defined period; the auditor checks that the record is contemporaneous, sufficient and reflective. Non-submission or an inadequate record can lead to conditions on the APC or a further competence review.
Worked example
A pharmacist is audited for the past 12 months. She submits a spreadsheet of 14 activities with hours and dates - but no reflections. The auditor cannot see whether the learning changed her practice, so the record is judged insufficient despite the hours. Two hours spent writing reflections across the year would have prevented it.
Traps
Logging CPD in a burst just before APC renewal; counting routine work as CPD without reflection; assuming a colleague's CPD plan transfers to you; forgetting that a change of practice setting, or a period of non-practice, must be declared.