Background
Pharmacists are required to be up to date and competent to perform their relevant professional activities, according to the Code of Ethics (RPSGB, 2005). Mandatory Continuous Professional Development places the responsibility for this firmly with the individual pharmacist. Community pharmacists are contracted by the NHS to provide specific pharmaceutical services based on local need. Needle exchange (NX) is one such service, provided by approximately 20% of community pharmacists in England and Wales (10% in Scotland). This study examined the opinions of community pharmacists contracted to provide NX services on training, CPD and support for this service.

Method
Following Research Ethics Committee approval, all identified needle exchange pharmacies in the South West of England (n=143) were invited to participate in a semi-structured qualitative telephone interview. Willing pharmacists were interviewed, data was recorded and subject to content analysis using grounded theory techniques to identify common themes and deviant cases.

Results
121 (85%) of pharmacists participated. NX was either seen as a healthcare intervention or as a supply function. Pharmacists who considered NX as the former recognised that knowledge and skills development would enhance service provision and client outcomes. Those who saw it as the latter did not recognise a need for CPD in this area. Those who did see a need for knowledge and skills development mostly saw the responsibility for providing this as lying with local commissioners. These pharmacists were identified as passive in their approach to NX CPD. They were willing to undertake training but often did not actively seek to do so. A few deviant cases were proactive in the development of their NX CPD and their competence to provide the service.

Conclusion
The CPD cycle was not being applied to NX by the majority of contractors who participated in this study. This raises the question of whether training should be formally incorporated into the commissioning of NX services and whether contractors should take more responsibility for NX CPD.