PRIMARY CARE
Pharmacy Professionals
Clinical pharmacists are increasingly working as part of general practice teams. They are highly qualified experts in medicines and can help people in a range of ways. This includes carrying out structured medication reviews for patients with ongoing health problems and improving patient safety, outcomes and value through a person-centred approach (NHSE).
NHSE Pharmacy Foundation Training Grant Update
Getting ready for the Foundation Training Year 2025/26
Updates
Regulatory changes in relation to foundation training have opened up the opportunity for general practice/PCNs to employ their own trainee pharmacists.
NHSE have summarised the key changes relating to foundation pharmacist training and general practice below:
- General Practices/PCN can now employ trainee pharmacists. They will be eligible for the training grant (£26,500 from 2025/26 onwards) and be responsible for paying the trainee’s salary for the duration of the training programme, providing supervision, including access to a prescribing environment/DPP, securing access to a period of training in an environment that has a dispensary overseen by a GPhC registrant. More information on the HEE website.
The ICB will be supporting organisations to find partners and DPPs and further information will be coming out soon. - All recruitment of trainee pharmacists must be via the national recruitment system (Oriel). To employ a trainee in 2025/26 programmes, they must be entered into Oriel by the deadline: 1st March 2024.
- NHSE will make the following resources/support available for all trainees, regardless of their sector of employment:
- The training grant
- An e-portfolio
- Access to supplementary training outside the workplace
- A comprehensive assessment strategy, including dedicated assessment activities related to prescribing
- NHSE will be running a webinar aimed at general practices/PCNs wishing to employ a trainee in February and will share details in the coming weeks.
In the interim, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with [email protected]
The full specification is still subject to further development, but the ICB can announce that this provision will cover the following:
- Induction Day to orientate trainees to the programme
- Establishment of communities of practice for trainees, to provide additional support to develop their prescribing practice (currently under exploration)
- Online learning materials to support delivery of the Learning Outcomes
- First Aid training
It is expected that any training provision related to the specific needs of individual organisations or employers will continue to be provided by employers.
What's happening
Opportunities and Training
Accuracy checking pharmacy technician (ACPT) programme
Are you, or do you employ, a pharmacy technician who would like to broaden their skills to undertake final accuracy checks of dispensed items?
The programme aims to support pharmacy technicians to:
- develop the skills required to be a safe competent and confident final accuracy checking pharmacy technician
- improve leadership and communication skills
- direct the dispensary team
- increase the pharmacy team’s capacity to deliver patient-facing services.
The total cost for a place on the course is £330 inclusive of VAT. This payment can be self-funded or employer financed.
To find out more, including entry criteria and how to apply, visit: www.cppe.ac.uk/career/acpt
Clinical Examination Skills Training for Community Pharmacists
Health Education England are pleased to announce new, fully funded, NHS clinical examination skills training for community pharmacists.
This new offer will build on community pharmacists’ existing clinical examination and consultation skills – to assess, treat and manage common health problems.
10,000 module places will be available until March 2024.
Following completion of a pre-required, online gateway module on history taking and identification of serious conditions, pharmacists can choose their preferred journey through four optional modules, based on professional interests. These modules cover four key themes: dermatology, cardiology, paediatrics, and ear, nose and throat.
The module content will be delivered online using a flexible and responsive eLearning system, with optional face-to-face attendance for pharmacists who would find this beneficial. Pharmacists can complete the training at a pace and time of their choice. Face-to-face workshops will be scheduled to accommodate pharmacist working patterns.
The training is designed to be complementary to independent prescribing training and can be completed prior to or after independent prescribing training courses.
This offer is available to community pharmacists, including part time staff and locums working in community pharmacy.
To register and find out more about the training visit the CliniSkills website.
To find out more about the Pharmacy Integration Programme, visit the Health Education England website.
CPPE
CPPE are suggesting to learners to utilise the e-learning resources below
- Primary care essentials
- Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults
- eLfH Equality, diversity and human rights
- Care homes: supporting people optimising medicines
- Remote consultation skills
- Inhaler technique for health care professionals and E-assessment
More information on Independent-prescribing and the Policy on IP timing and studying two training programmes at the same time.
Sign up to the CPPE waiting list for booking alerts.
More CPPE resources here!
NHSE have asked CPPE to offer a learning programme that will enable competence and confidence of community pharmacy professionals in readiness for prescribing. We propose that the programme is open to pharmacists who want to become prescribers and pharmacy technicians who want to learn what prescribing will mean in practice and how they can best support their prescribers.
This document outlines the proposal for the learning content and delivery format for this programme. The intention will be to launch the programme in early summer 2023. CPPE has a team of 12 facilitators trained in action learning approaches for this pilot.
New Inclusive Pharmacy Practice Bulletin
Sign up to receive the new bi-annual Inclusive Pharmacy Practice (IPP) bulletin, which highlights examples of community pharmacy and primary care good practice.
Preparing to train as an independent prescriber e-course
You can find information about it on the CPPE website. Its aim is to help pharmacists prepare an application and prepare for prescribing training by helping them to understand what it means to be a prescriber, considerations when choosing a course, how they can demonstrate relevant knowledge and skills and plan for the study and supervised practice requirements of the course. You can register your interest in advance of the launch date, to be added to the waiting list.
Please contact [email protected] or [email protected] if you have any questions.
Pharmacy First
Pharmacy First is here – build your pharmacy future with fully funded, flexible training tailored to your skills, experience and individual learning requirements. Learn new skills, support peer development and expand your clinical knowledge.
Courses include:
- Clinical Examination Skills and Independent Prescribing for Community Pharmacists
- Advancing your role for Community Pharmacy Technicians
- Educational Supervisor Training for Community Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians.
Pharmacy Leads Programme - North West Leadership Academy (NWLA)
Three-Part Programme -Please complete this survey to express an interest in future cohorts of this programme.
Polypharmacy Action Learning Set Training
The Health Innovation Network Polypharmacy Programme invites you to join our NHS England funded Action Learning Sets to help build GP and prescribing health care professionals’ confidence in, and understanding of, the complex issues surrounding stopping inappropriate medicines safely. This online interactive course is held over three half-days (9.30am –12.15pm) over one month. Register here.
Trainee Pharmacist Foundation Training Year
What's happening
Resources & Videos
HEE Updates
HEE Trainee foundation pharmacist assessment strategy update
Thank you for your feedback on our assessment strategy for foundation trainees.
HEE have made some minor updates to the Assessment strategy and Assessment activities guide which include: updating links to the e-Learning for Healthcare (e-LfH) resources and clarifying when a single scenario from practice can contribute to more than one assessment activity.
Learners on the Interim Foundation Pharmacist Programme (IFPP) will benefit from a new training package designed to help build their confidence around answering questions about medicines.
This is a great addition to the IFPP’s resource library and is also intended to help IFPP learners achieve learning objectives from their end of programme Personal Development Plan.
The NHS Community Pharmacy Consultation Service (CPCS) is a community pharmacist led clinical service which has been managing referrals from NHS111 since 2019. GP practices can also refer patients contacting them with minor illness symptoms for a same day consultation with a community pharmacist, using the referral pathway to the CPCS.
Catch up on this webinar hosted by the Royal College of General Practitioners, featuring an expert panel of speakers with a discussion on how the CPCS works and how it supports general practice. You can also access the CPCS FutureNHS workspace to find support with implementing the referral pathway.
As outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan, the NHS should make more appropriate use of pharmacy professionals’ clinical skills, helping patients get the right care, at the right time, in the right place.
HEE’s work aims to deliver a more responsive pharmacy workforce, equipped with the skills to deliver a clinical service across all care settings, and adapted to new ways of working.
Community Pharmacy
HEE are pleased to announce new, fully funded, NHS clinical examination skills training for community pharmacists.
This new offer will build on community pharmacists’ existing clinical examination and consultation skills – to assess, treat and manage common health problems.
10,000 module places will be available until March 2024.
Sign up now for Clinical examination skills training, which will be delivered by CliniSkills.
About the training: Following completion of a pre-required, online gateway module on history taking and identification of serious conditions, pharmacists can choose their preferred journey through four optional modules, based on professional interests. These modules cover four key themes: dermatology, cardiology, paediatrics, and ear, nose and throat.
The module content will be delivered online using a flexible and responsive eLearning system, with optional face-to-face attendance for pharmacists who would find this beneficial. Pharmacists can complete the training at a pace and time of their choice. Face-to-face workshops will be scheduled to accommodate pharmacist working patterns.
The training is designed to be complementary to independent prescribing training and can be completed prior to or after independent prescribing training courses.
Who is eligible: This offer is available to community pharmacists, including part time staff and locums working in community pharmacy.
Further information
To register and find out more about the training visit the CliniSkills website.
To find out more about the Pharmacy Integration Programme, visit the Health Education England website.
For any further enquiries, please contact [email protected]
Pharmacy technicians are valued and important members of the primary care pharmacy workforce. In these short podcast episodes, pharmacy technicians talk about the variety of roles and opportunities for the profession, and the contribution they make to patient care. Topics discussed include leadership, pharmacy technician run clinics and phlebotomy services in primary care, and pharmacy technician support for structured medication reviews.
Health Education England (HEE) awarded the contract to deliver the education for clinical pharmacists in general practice until 2020/21 to CPPE following an open procurement process and the success of our education pathway for the phase 1 pilot.
See more on CPPE’s website.
Working with NHS England, we are leading the Community Pharmacy Workforce Survey 2022 to build a picture of the community pharmacy workforce. This will develop the understanding on an annual basis, with the most recent survey completed in 2021.
The Community Pharmacy Workforce Survey 2022 is open from Thursday 6 October to Wednesday 30 November. Find out more!
Each of the UK countries hosted a webinar, with its Chief Pharmaceutical Officer taking part. Find out more about the Commission’s work and the Call for Evidence by watching a webinar recording below:
The Pharmacy Quality Scheme 2022/23, which starts on 10 October 2022, has been published on NHS BSA website. It builds on previous work around respiratory disease, antimicrobial stewardship and weight management and includes new criteria on improving access to end of life medicines, domestic abuse and cancer red flags.
To qualify for the Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) 2022/23 payment, pharmacy contractors will have to meet all the gateway criteria by the end of 31 March 2023. Pharmacy contractors must claim payment for the PQS 2022/23 during the declaration period, which is between 9am on 6 February 2023 and 11.59pm on 3 March 2023.
Check out NHSE’s Clinical Pharmacists page for information on:
- Support for recruitment and employment
- About clinical pharmacists
- Pilot site external evaluation, Case studies
- Blogs
Guidance for community pharmacy contractors on the Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) 2022/23 has now been published. PQS commenced on 10 October 22 as part of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework agreement.
The guidance explains how contractors can meet the gateway and quality criteria. To qualify for the PQS 22/23 payment, contractors will have to make a declaration between 9:00 on 6 February 2023 and 23:59 on 3 March 2023 and meet all gateway criteria by the end of 31 March 2023.
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