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Dr Jon Waterfield

Job: Associate Professor in Pharmacy Practice

Faculty: Health and Life Sciences

School/department: Leicester School of Pharmacy

Address: ºÚÁÏÍø, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH.

T: +44 (0)116 257 7718

E: jwaterfield@dmu.ac.uk

W: /hls

 

Personal profile

Jon Waterfield registered as a pharmacist in 1984 having completed his pharmacy degree at the University of Bradford. He has held various positions as a community pharmacist-manager and was national Pharmacy Training Manager for Lloyds Pharmacy. In 2005 he joined the Leicester School of Pharmacy where he teaches clinical pharmacy and pharmacy practice.

Jon is Pharmacy Programme Leader  and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His main research interests include: pharmacy education, professionalism, theories of knowledge in relation to pharmacy, the role of the community pharmacist and public health.

Jon is author of the text book 'Community Pharmacy Handbook' and has also co-authored the book 'Fundamental Aspects of Medicines' which is a training resource to support safe and effective use of medicines in community care. 

Research group affiliations

Pharmacy Practice

Institute for Education Futures

Publications and outputs


  • dc.title: How is the term ‘competence’ defined by the pharmacy educator? A qualitative study of science-based and practice-based pharmacy educators dc.contributor.author: Waterfield, Jon dc.description.abstract: Background: A simple definition of ‘competence’ has resulted in a concept that is mainly related to tasks and outcomes. A more detailed knowledge of how pharmacy educators define competence can support future development of teaching and assessment of pharmacy undergraduates. Aim: The overall aim of this research was to gain some insight into the views of different pharmacy educators and their perception of the term ‘competence’. Method: A thematic analysis of a total of 12 semi-structured, one hour interviews with four academic members of staff from three different Schools of Pharmacy in England. Results: Both science-based and practice-based respondents defined competence in terms of a construct defined by a group of peers. Practitioners were more hesitant about the use of competence-based assessment compared to scientists. Conclusion: There are indications from the interview narratives that there is a need for a deeper dialogue about competence and more emphasis on the development of ongoing, individual competence. dc.description: Open Access journal

  • dc.title: Exploring the prevalence of and factors associated with advice on prescription medicines: A survey of community pharmacies in an English city dc.contributor.author: Rivers, Peter; Waterfield, Jon; Grootveld, Martin; Raynor, D. K. dc.description.abstract: Service users rely upon pharmacy staff to provide advice on prescription medicines. The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of advice-giving in pharmacies located across different areas within an inner-city population. A questionnaire was administered with service users outside 29 community pharmacies in an English Midlands city between February and July 2014. The primary outcome measure was the percentage who had received information or advice when collecting a prescription medicine. A total of 1206 service users took part, of whom 49.1% were female and 50.9% were of minority ethnicity (48.8% white British). The age ranges were: 17–30 years (21.0%), 31–60 years (55.0%) and 61–80+ years (24.1%). Sixty-nine per cent of participants had collected a prescription for themselves, and the proportions of new and repeat prescriptions were 22.1% and 77.6% respectively. A subset of 141 participants had requested advice, of whom 94% confirmed that they had received it. Overall, 28.6% of 1065 participants received unsolicited information or advice. The overall prevalence of unsolicited advice-giving varied per pharmacy from 14% to 63% and for new and repeat prescriptions was 41.9% and 25.5% respectively (p < .001, new vs repeat). In areas of greater deprivation, a higher proportion of service users of minority ethnicity received unsolicited repeat prescription advice, compared to that of white British (33.0% vs 17.3% respectively; p < .001). Thus, the low incidence and contrasting patterns of prescription advice-giving suggests that the training and expertise of pharmacy staff may not always be used effectively within the UK NHS. Therefore, the current challenge is how community pharmacies can work in partnership with colleagues across the wider healthcare system when optimising the use of medicines and reducing health inequalities. The research performed here provides new insights reflecting the low prevalence of advice-giving and potential inequity associated with delivery of this pharmacy service. dc.description: This research was conducted in collaboration with the University of Leeds School of Healthcare. Open Access article

  • dc.title: An investigation of pharmacy student perception of competence-based learning using the individual Skills Evaluation and Development program, iSED dc.contributor.author: Allen, Susan; Waterfield, Jon; Rivers, Peter dc.description.abstract: The Objective Structured Clinical Exercise (OSCE) is the mainstay of clinical competence evaluation of healthcare professionals. The iSED® (individualised Skills Evaluation and Development) program, developed by Leicester School of Pharmacy, embraces various learning theories and was conceived to enhance the OSCE experience and facilitate students’ self-regulation in developing clinical competence. Aim: To explore pharmacy students’ experience of using iSED® to develop clinical competence. Method: Data were collected using a mixed methods study comprising an attitudinal Likert-style questionnaire, completed by second year MPharm students at Leicester School of Pharmacy, and focus groups with second year and third year students. Results: Students expressed a positive perception towards iSED®, characterised by three emergent themes: ‘Visualisation and nature of feedback’, ‘Self-regulation and cyclical learning’, ‘Seeing yourself as others see you’. Conclusion: Experience of iSED® supports clinical skills development through objective self-observation against a gold standard and facilitates understanding of individual learner identity. dc.description: This is an Open Access Journal.

  • dc.title: Using Bourdieu's Theoretical Framework to Examine How the Pharmacy Educator Views Pharmacy Knowledge dc.contributor.author: Waterfield, Jon dc.description.abstract: Objective. To explore how different pharmacy educators view pharmacy knowledge within the United Kingdom MPharm program and to relate these findings to Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical framework. Methods. Twelve qualitative interviews were conducted with 4 faculty members from 3 different types of schools of pharmacy in the United Kingdom: a newer school, an established teaching-based school, and an established research-intensive school. Selection was based on a representation of both science- based and practice-based disciplines, gender balance, and teaching experience. Results. The interview transcripts indicated how these members of the academic community describe knowledge. There was a polarization between science-based and practice-based educators i