Netty Cracknell
Lead Cancer Pharmacist, Member of the BOPA digital SACT Verification Passport project
Sarah Mitchell
Cancer-Care Pharmacist, Member of the BOPA digital SACT Verification Passport project
Jonathan Knight
CEO & Co-Founder, Tefogo, Member of the BOPA digital SACT Verification Passport project
The systemic anti-cancer therapies (SACT) Verification Passport is a digital solution allowing pharmacy staff to move between organisations and take a record of their training with them.
Pharmacy plays a crucial role in cancer treatment, particularly in managing chemotherapy and other SACT. These therapies — ranging from traditional chemotherapy to advanced immunotherapies and CAR-T cell treatments — are highly complex and carry significant risks, including severe side effects and death.
Specialist pharmacy training
Ensuring that each patient receives the right medicines, at the right doses and at the right time requires specialist pharmacists. These professionals undergo extensive training beyond the five years of university and foundation training, which is required to legally qualify as a pharmacist within the UK.
Not only does this boost efficiency, but
it also enhances the safety and quality
of care for cancer patients.
Training challenges
In 2022, the British Oncology Pharmacy Association (BOPA) identified major inconsistencies in how this training was provided across the UK. Some organisations had overlapping training programmes, leading to inefficiencies when pharmacists moved between hospitals.
SACT Verification Passport solution
The BOPA digital SACT Verification Passport is an innovative solution developed in partnership with the Compassly app. The passport delivers modules of training in the form of multiple choice questions, mock situations and tracks training as well as other features.
It allows pharmacists to carry their certification between organisations, standardising the level of training across the UK. The passport saves time and resources by eliminating duplicate training UK-wide while making it easier to track and update qualifications within organisations.
Not only does this boost efficiency, but it also enhances the safety and quality of care for cancer patients. With global interest already growing, the SACT Verification Passport could become a model for cancer pharmacy training worldwide.
