Requirements for the foundation trainee pharmacist programme in England

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has set out the role of NHS England in the management and delivery of the foundation trainee pharmacist programme in England and has delegated a range of responsibilities to NHS England as part of this.

Every foundation training site in England must meet key requirements that are set by the GPhC and NHS England.

Key information on the requirements of the GPhC and NHS England are summarised on this website. More information can be found in:

• GPhC foundation training requirements
• NHS England FTPP national recruitment scheme terms of participation
• NHS England foundation pharmacist training programme: Training site requirements (PDF only, 256KB)

Recruitment

All training sites must be recruited to via the National Recruitment Scheme (NRS). There is no process for the recruitment of trainees or provision of funding in England outside of this.

Prospective training sites must agree to the NRS terms of participation prior to entering a foundation training place into the NRS. Through this, prospective training sites agree to key requirements including:

• engagement with the NHS England quality framework
• provision of appropriate education supervision (for example designated supervisor and designated prescribing practitioner) and clinical supervision
• use of the NHS England assessment strategy and e-portfolio
• completion of a training plan

Contracting

Training sites that are allocated a trainee pharmacist are then required to enter into a contractual agreement with NHS England in the form of either:

• the NHS England education funding agreement (EFA)
• terms and conditions equivalent to the EFA, via the NHS Business Service Authority (NHSBSA) manage your service portal for community pharmacy organisations

Training site and supervision requirements

Detailed information on the requirements of training sites, including the supervision that must be provided, can be found in the NHS England document foundation pharmacist training programme: Training site requirements (PDF only, 256KB). This includes the requirement that supervisors must submit their details to NHS England and make a declaration that they meet the requirements of the relevant person specification(s) when they are requested to do so.

Multi-sector rotations

Multi-sector rotations involve at least 13 weeks of training in a different area of pharmacy practice to the one the trainee is based in.

Inclusion of a multi-sector rotation will be mandatory from the 2027/28 foundation training year.

The main sectors of practice are defined as:

• community pharmacy 
• NHS managed sector (including hospitals, acute NHS trusts and mental health NHS trusts) 
• general practice and health and justice.

NHS England has developed a template agreement that can be used between the employer of a foundation trainee pharmacist and an organisation providing a training rotation (Word document only, 126KB), a template agreement (Word document only, 45KB) between a rotation provider and trainee pharmacist, and a set of explanatory notes (Word document only, 42KB). The template Rotation Agreement and the template agreement for use by rotation providers with foundation trainee pharmacists who are going to be joining them on rotation (“the Templates”) are provided by NHS England as example agreements, to assist employers and rotation providers with arranging rotations.

NHS England does not require the templates to be used by employers and/or rotation providers. The templates are provided as an example of the sort of agreement that may be appropriate. The templates are provided ‘as is’, without any representation or endorsement made and without warranty of any kind whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy or completeness. NHS England will not be liable for any decision made or action taken (or not taken) in reliance on the information contained in the templates.

Training plans

All sites must complete and return a training plan to NHS England. Information on the requirements for completion of training plans can be found here.

Funding

Information on funding for the foundation trainee pharmacist year in England can be found here.