Introduction
Since the mid 1990's, pharmacists have been working in GP practices as members of the practice team. This was initially due to a change in government policy, and the realisation that pharmacists could analyse GP prescribing and advise on measures to curtail prescribing costs. The advent of Primary Care Organisations (PCOs) has seen the numbers of practice pharmacists increase dramatically. Successful continuation of their inclusion will only occur if pharmacists are seen to benefit both the practices and their patients, and offer something beyond the traditional provision from a community pharmacy. Furthermore, pharmacists employed within a PCO need to function in the same manner as other members of the PCO hence issues such as clinical governance and Continuing Professional Development are relevant to their role.

This study was undertaken as part of a larger project that was focussing on the training needs of practice pharmacists. The aim of this part of the project was to identifying the professional background and experience of pharmacists recruited to practice-based posts.

Method
A postal questionnaire was sent to all the identified practice pharmacists in two NHS regions in the UK. In total 114 pharmacists were surveyed.

Results
Sixty one (54%) pharmacists returned the questionnaire. The results indicate that most practice pharmacists have been registered as pharmacists for in excess of 10 years (61%) with approximately half (51%) coming from a hospital background and half (48%) having a community background. It was noteworthy that 53% of pharmacists had been in post for less than 1 year. The majority of pharmacists worked within the PCG on a part-time basis, often less than 2 days a week. A formal post graduation qualification, most often a Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy, was held by 35 pharmacists (57%), and nearly all of these had a hospital background. Sixteen pharmacists (26%) were currently undertaking a formal post graduate qualification, the subjects chosen for this were Community Pharmacy, Clinical Pharmacy, Prescribing Sciences and Prescribing Management in Primary Care.

Discussion
The results from this survey indicate that older, experienced pharmacists are taking up posts within PCOs. The pharmacists come from both hospital and community backgrounds, bringing a mixture of skills into the job. As there is no uniformity in backgrounds or post graduate qualifications, the way the pharmacists perform in their new roles may be varied depending. Some of the pharmacists recognise they are not fully equipped fully to perform their roles within the PCO and therefore are undertaking formal post- graduate qualifications.

Conclusion
If pharmacists are to successfully integrate into PCOs they must demonstrate that they have skills that will be useful as their role evolves, are up to date and are committed to the concepts that govern PCOs. To redress the diversity of pharmacists' skills, formal training needs to be designed and offered to all PCO pharmacists, this will ensure a uniform level of competence regardless of background. Only in this way will the role of the practice pharmacist be fully recognised as being of benefit and therefore sustainable.