Dr Hayley Croft

Dr Hayley Croft (PhD BPharm GradCertDiabetes AACPA MPS) is a full-time teaching and research academic in the School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy at the University of Newcastle. She is a registered pharmacist and has been recognised for 15 years service as an accredited consultant pharmacist. Her clinical experience is in providing medication management services within the primary care sector including community pharmacy, residential aged care facilities, and private disability organisations.  

Hayley's research interests encompass scholarship of teaching and learning including workforce development and experiential learning. Her specific research programs explore the assessment of health professional competence, and use of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) in workplace-based learning that provide a means of evaluating the progressive increase in responsibility and autonomy that a student/learner can be entrusted to undertake professional task(s) safely and accurately; and supporting workplace preceptors in linking education and practice.  

As a clinician researcher Hayley is also undertaking health services research and is passionate about establishing a role for pharmacists in disability care, recognising there is a lack of strong evidence for models of care to improve medicine safety in people with disability. The research program aims to establish an evidence base for pharmacists to be more heavily involved in medicine safety for people with disability and improve care for people with cognitive disability through collaborative practice arrangements that include pharmacists. This aligns with objectives of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) and of the wider profession. Hayley is one of the founding members of POMPIDA (Pharmacists Optimising Medicines for People with Intellectual Disability and Autism) a community of practice for pharmacists with a special interest in disability care; and co-founder and director of Cognitive Pharmacy Consultants (CPC) a company that specialises in delivering medication and policy review services to people at a higher risk due to their medicines and setting such as disability and aged care organisations.  

Hayley is involved in policy and projects at a state and national level through her involvement as a Pharmacy Board Examiner for Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA); a consultant to the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) on the development of workplace assessment approaches for Intern pharmacists; and a member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) Academic Advisory Committee.

Hayley has been acknowledged for 15 years service in teaching pharmacy and nursing students at the University of Newcastle (UoN) and has made substantial contributions to quality teaching and learning activities across all year levels, largely focused pharmacy practice and pharmacotherapeutics. Hayley was awarded the 2022 CHMW Early-Career Teaching award which recognises early-career staff members who have demonstrated an outstanding contribution to the student learning experience.