Pharmacy Integration Programme

In November 2021, the NHS England investment of £15.9m was confirmed to support the expansion of frontline pharmacy professionals in primary care over the next four years, to meet the needs of patients and local communities.

This investment is an exciting opportunity for existing registered pharmacy professionals to access further clinical training, including independent prescribing and clinical skills. Such training will help pharmacy professionals thrive in integrated multi-professional teams across community and primary care settings.

These developments, along with wider reform of pharmacy education and training, respond to identified workforce need, supporting the need for a flexible, integrated, multi-professional workforce, capable of confident, joined-up patient care.

LIVE OFFER: Educational supervisor training for the community pharmacy workforce 2024/25

LIVE OFFER: Community pharmacy technician: advancing your role 2024/25

LIVE OFFER: Independent prescribing for pharmacists 2024/25

About the Pharmacy Integration Programme

We have worked to identify workforce training needs and used this evidence to develop a range of education and training offers and initiatives as part of the 2021-24 Pharmacy Integration Programme. This programme continues through 2024-25.

All offers are based on a combination of identified workforce need and the evidence arising from education and training programmes delivered during the 2017- 2024 Pharmacy Integration Programme. Find out more about the evaluation of the 2017-2021 learning pathways at the bottom of this page.

Current and pending training and development offers include:

Clinical examination skills training for community pharmacists

The NHS extends a big thank you to those community pharmacists who have engaged with the CliniSkills training.

The range of training targeted hands-on clinical examination skills that are vital for community pharmacists to confidently assess patients’ clinical signs and symptoms when managing clinical cases routinely presenting to community pharmacies each day.  A flexible and responsive on-line eLearning system has been successful in presenting key information in a way that can be interfaced with a busy working schedule. These principles were supported with the opportunity to undertake face to face training days, enabling hands-on practise and refinement of patient assessment techniques.

Material in on-line modules included structured history taking, dermatology, cardiology (segmented into the 5 key subjects), ENT and paediatrics, and focused on identifying red flags for referral and establishing those patients who can be managed appropriately in the community pharmacy using medications, self-care advice and safety netting information.

In this way the CliniSkills training programme has supported the clinical development of community pharmacists, which is key to the future delivery of expanding pharmaceutical care services in the community and in particular the successful delivery of the "Pharmacy First" initiative.

We are now evaluating the detail of the successes of the training in terms of how community pharmacists were supported and developed and will release findings with our partner, Cliniskills. This evidence base will then be used to inform future developments.

Independent Prescribing

Applications for training offers for 2024/2025 are now open, with several universities offering multiple dates for cohort intakes.

Don’t miss out – check your eligibility and apply now.

As a minimum, eligible pharmacists will also need to have:

• The support of an identified designated prescribing practitioner (DPP).
• An appropriate practice-based learning environment in a prescribing setting that can offer appropriate clinical support.
• Evidence that you meet the course provider eligibility criteria (applicants will be subject to their chosen university’s enrolment processes).
• Commitment to use the skill within your area of competence and expertise, for the delivery of NHS clinical services as they emerge.

If you would like to be added to our distribution list for future information, please register your interest.

Find out more, including answers to FAQs, on the Independent Prescribing web page. 

Community pharmacy technician: advancing your role

This training offer will support pharmacy technicians to develop the knowledge and clinical skills required to deliver highly effective clinical services in community pharmacy. This training will enable pharmacy technicians to support clinical service expansion and increase patient access to clinical services.

The training is available as several modules and is intended to be flexible in its design, to accommodate the working patterns of pharmacy technicians in community pharmacy.

To find out more and apply, visit the CPPE website.

Increasing access to educational, prescribing, and clinical supervisors for pharmacy professionals

We recognise that access to clinical, education and prescribing supervision is a key challenge facing the pharmacy workforce.

Two fully funded Supervisor training programmes for those supervising the pharmacy workforce have been made available.

This training will ensure those involved in education supervision, including Designated Supervisors and Designated Prescribing Practitioners, are confident to provide support and developmental aid to the pharmacy workforce.

For more information, please visit Supervisor Training.

In addition to the reforms to the initial education and training of pharmacists, there is a clear need to support the existing pharmacist workforce to complete post-registration independent prescribing training, which requires increased prescribing supervision capacity.

Work to date has focused on the following areas:

1. Improving information and communication for and with potential Independent Prescribers and their supervisors
2. Exploring the consistency of approach to the supervision of IP learners by IP course providers

3. Sharing examples of novel models of supervision of IP learners in practice

For more information, please visit Supervision for Pharmacist Independent Prescriber Training.

Portfolio recognition route and improved access to approved courses for pharmacy professionals working in primary care

For Pharmacists:

We have worked with key stakeholders to develop a framework for pharmacists working in General Practice, to evidence where their practice meets the RPS Post-registration foundation curriculum outcomes. This will support pharmacists in the early stages of their career in General Practice.

Whilst some examples of evidence have been provided, this is not exhaustive. We encourage you to use the framework, make changes as needed and share if required with colleagues, but ask that you reference the original document and its creators (noted below) in any subsequent versions you create.

Many thanks to the contributors of this work, particularly:

• NHS Sussex
• Primary Care Pharmacy Association
• Centre for Pharmacy Post-graduate Education (CPPE)

General Practice Pharmacist Foundation Framework.

For Pharmacy Technicians

Expanding the number of approved training programmes to support pharmacy technicians in primary care.

A training programme for pharmacy technicians working in primary care

In winter 2023, we offered 100 funded places on the GP Pharmacy Technician Medicines Optimisation Training Programme delivered by Pharmacy Workforce Development South. Places were allocated on a first-come, first-served basis to pharmacy technicians who met the required eligibility criteria.

The GP Pharmacy Technician Training Programme supports pharmacy technicians to demonstrate that they can safely deploy the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for safe practice, relevant to their role, and provides the assurance needed for safe delegation of tasks and practice autonomy.

The programme is primarily aimed at pharmacy technicians who are predominantly working within a GP setting and is approved against the UK-wide APTUK/PCPA National Competency Framework for Primary Care Pharmacy Technicians.

Visit Pharmacy Workforce Development South to find out more.

Next steps

We are working with stakeholders across sectors to share information about the Pharmacy Integration Programme and how we can work together to develop the offers.

We will continue to add updates to our web pages for the duration of the programme.

Any questions?

Please contact: england.pharmacyteam@nhs.net