From 2026, all newly qualified Pharmacists will also be qualified as Independent Prescribers.
Based on our population need in BSW, we are commissioned to train 50 trainee pharmacists a year to meet our workforce demands, so we need to rapidly scale up the number of people eligible to act as Designated Prescribing Practitioners. DPPs are needed to support the trainee pharmacist to attain their prescribing competencies in their year of work before registration. Additionally, we have a significant cohort of experienced pharmacists without this important qualification who need to be supported.
HEE provided funding to pilot innovative alternatives to traditional supervision models for pharmacist IP learners ('Teach & Treat'). We chose to target Community Pharmacists as this is a difficult area to find appropriate supervision. Also, the national and local strategic direction is for community pharmacists to take on an increasingly clinical role, especially around urgent care and management of minor illness to support the system.
We estimated that the Teach & Treat pilot would enable us to increase our DPP capacity at pace by adding another 18-20 prescribers to the system each year.
A workforce transformation project followed to upskill these skilled and experienced pharmacists. In collaboration with BSW ICS, HEE, Medvivo and University of the West of England (UWE), and University of Bath, providing a supportive and safe environment for the clinical aspects of the IP Course allowing them to simulate prescribing practices in a safe environment. In year one we will have trained 6 pharmacists in our first cohort and 9 in our second.
