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Pharmacy First uptake falling short of expectations, says Kinnock ... mmunity pharmacies in England to support patients and help to alleviate the pressure on GP surgeries.' Last week, Mr Kinnock suggested that as more pharmacists become independent prescribers next year, the government would make ‘even better use’ of the profession’s skills. Date: 23-06-2025 Categories: • Community • Latest News • News • Pharmacy First
Interview: New NPA vice chair on achieving ‘advocacy and a real voice’ for pharmacy ... ith changes coming in next year that will see all newly qualified pharmacists become independent prescribers, Ms Basra said it was vital that a role opened up within community pharmacy to use this qualification. Ms Bara and her colleague Helen Yohannes are both independent prescribing pharmacists but ‘it’s not being utilised’ in the community, she said. ‘There's no pathway for me and Helen to provide NHS [prescrib ... Date: 20-06-2025 Categories: • Community • Interviews • Pharmacy First
GPhC launches new strategic plan to ‘empower’ pharmacists ... cy professions are both evolving rapidly, including pharmacies taking on expanded role in prescribing medicines, with all newly qualified pharmacists joining the register as independent prescribers for next year,’ she said. Duncan Rudkin, chief executive of the GPhC, said: ‘At the heart of this strategy lies an unwavering commitment to the safety and wellbeing of the people of Great Britain. ‘By empowering the pha ... Date: 19-06-2025 Categories: • Community • Latest News • News
Government will make ‘even better use’ of pharmacists following prescribing changes ... nister Stephen Kinnock has stressed. Speaking at the launch of the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) new strategic plan for 2025-2030, Mr Kinn0ck said that as more pharmacists become independent prescribers next year, the government would make ‘even better use’ of the profession’s skills. He reiterated the government’s commitment to shifting care from hospital to community, from analogue to digital and sickn ... Date: 19-06-2025 Categories: • Community • Latest News • News
NHSE funds 3,300 places on pharmacist independent prescribing courses ... a fully-funded place directly by the university. Course length and the number of face-to-face days required vary between universities. The news comes as all pharmacists will qualify as independent prescribers from 2026. One in three pharmacists in Great Britain are now independent prescribers, according to recent data from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). As of 31 March 2025, the total number of pharm ... Date: 30-05-2025 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News
Interview: HubRx is for pharmacists 'at the end of their tether' ... l services. 'That's what we've done within our branches, and we've increased our clinical services no end,' he told The Pharmacist. 'All the pharmacists are being retrained to become independent prescribers. We're moving them to a place where they they have a sense of purpose. They're enjoying their role because it's more varied. They're not just stuck at the dispensing bench, swamped under pressure, feeling like ... Date: 29-05-2025 Categories: • Community • Interviews
New NPA chair sets out a change in tactics Calling off its proposed collective action is a sign that the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has slowed down its campaign in order to engage in conversation with ministers, new NPA chair Olivier Picard has said. At ... Date: 16-05-2025 Categories: • Community • News
Financial impact of contract must be calculated, NPA urges ... ot fully answered’ by the economic analysis and that it wanted to see a ‘focus on the economics of future clinical services and the opportunities created by independent prescribers in community pharmacies in England’. Other recommendations called on all pharmacy bodies to help ‘develop and propose ideas for reform of the CPCF alongside the work on substantive reform of the GP contract’. It also asked that NHS Engl ... Date: 13-05-2025 Categories: • Community • News
CPhOs quizzed on patient registration for pharmacist prescribers ... land and Northern Ireland were asked whether they thought requiring patients to register with a pharmacist, as they do with a GP, would help 'ensure that there is a job role' for community pharmacist independent prescribers. Data shows that 21,804 pharmacists now have an independent prescribing (IP) annotation, representing 33% of all registered pharmacists. And from 2026, new pharmacists will join the register as ... Date: 13-05-2025 Categories: • Cardiovascular • Clinical • Community • Diabetes and endocrinology • In Practice • News
Third of pharmacists in Great Britain are now independent prescribers One in three pharmacists in Great Britain are now independent prescribers, according to recent data from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). Data shows that 21,804 pharmacists now have an independent prescribing (IP) annotation, representing 33% of all registered ... Date: 07-05-2025 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News
What could Kinnock's vision for pharmacy 'reform' look like? ... Pharmaceutical Society England pharmacy board chair, commented on wider reforms across pharmacist education and training that, from 2026, will see all newly qualified pharmacists become independent prescribers. 'With the right support, this could see a step change in the clinical role of pharmacists within the NHS,' she said. 'Enhanced pharmacist prescribing services could build on Pharmacy First, better manage de ... Date: 11-04-2025 Categories: • Analysis • Community • News
GPhC updates education and training guidance to support sustainability commitments Guidance for the education and training of pharmacists and pharmacist independent prescribers has been updated to reflect commitments to sustainability, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has announced. The updated guidance highlights the crucial role of pharmacists as medicines exp ... Date: 26-02-2025 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News
Pharmacy First: A year of transformation for community pharmacy ... ctiveness improves. That’s where we need to get to in England. Looking ahead five years, I fully expect Pharmacy First to evolve into an expanded prescribing service, especially as more independent prescribers join the community pharmacy workforce. Pharmacy First, linked to prescribing from a community pharmacy setting, has the power to be truly transformative for community-based care. The will is there, both from ph ... Date: 07-02-2025 Categories: • Community • Pharmacy First • Views
Majority of practice pharmacists plan to stay in sector in five years' time ... e said that 'more and more pharmacists' saw prescribing skills 'as a necessity', especially given education changes coming in next year that will see all newly registered pharmacists qualified as independent prescribers. However, she suggested that in community pharmacy, pharmacists qualified as independent prescribers 'struggle to prescribe', unless they set up their own private practice. 'Community pharmacy has ... Date: 09-01-2025 Categories: • In Practice • Investigations • News • Workforce report
Government commits to new workforce plan with 'laser-focus' on community ... erson told The Pharmacist today. In particular, the PDA said there needed to be 'a comprehensive and funded solution for the provision of supervision of those who will be independent prescribers (IPs)', as well as 'full consideration of those pharmacists who choose not to become IPs during the next ten years'. Meanwhile Dr James Davies, director of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in England said that pharma ... Date: 09-12-2024 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News
More than half of PCNs pay above ARRS allowance for pharmacists ... p their ARRS staff's salary from the PCN budget. And he noted that the pharmacist workforce was maturing, with many who had entered general practice under the ARRS scheme having now trained as independent prescribers. Dr Stretch, who is a pharmacist partner in a GP surgery, suggested that if pharmacists were using their prescribing qualification by 'practicing autonomously and managing patient workloads', then the ... Date: 28-11-2024 Categories: • In Practice • News
Pharmacy First won't tempt practice pharmacists back into community yet, survey suggests ... that changes to the initial education of pharmacists to include prescribing training might push the legacy workforce into becoming independent prescribers, ‘because they don’t want to get left behind’. He said he was unsurprised by the survey findings that highlighted concerns around workforce and workload pressures in community pharmacy. And he suggested that with the current financial situation across primary c ... Date: 21-11-2024 Categories: • Community • In Practice • Investigations • News • Pharmacy First • Workforce report
Lord Darzi: Pharmacy closures ‘a grave concern’ that must be investigated by MPs ... of medicines. ‘With the success of Pharmacy First in supporting patients and more pharmacists practicing as independent prescribers, the Government, as it looks to develop a 10-Year NHS Plan, should reflect on how pharmacy is prioritised and funded across the system.’ She noted that the RPS’ evidence to the Darzi review highlighted the ‘increased demand’ on pharmacy teams and that ‘warnings of pharmacy closures m ... Date: 20-11-2024 Categories: • Community • News • Pharmacy First
Leaders cast their vision for the future of community pharmacy ... ith patient-facing services like the NHS App. 'I'd like to see us delivering an expanded Pharmacy First service that's extended to more conditions, that provides really important opportunities for independent prescribers and flexibility to be able to carry out prescribing, deprescribing, medicine use reviews and all of that,' Ms Morrison said. She noted there was lots that could be done to 'fully optimise' the ser ... Date: 15-10-2024 Categories: • Cardiovascular • Clinical • Community • Diabetes and endocrinology • News • Nutrition and gastroenterology • Respiratory • Vaccinations and infections
Prescribing service will likely build on Pharmacy First, suggests CPE ... to think about how we can increase the conditions in Pharmacy First [and] use the skills of pharmacy teams to do more medicine use reviews for prescribing and deprescribing, and to provide a role for independent prescribers in the future.' 'That's what government would like to see from us, and can see the potential from us,' Ms Morrison added. Though CPE has told government that they 'cannot have any expansion unl ... Date: 14-10-2024 Categories: • Community • News • Pharmacy First
Fewer than one in ten community pharmacists can prescribe, NHSE suggests Around 8% of community pharmacists in England were qualified as independent prescribers (IPs) in 2023, an NHS England workforce survey has suggested. In 2023, around 2,217 community pharmacists were IP qualified, or around 8% of the total community pharmacist workforce - an estimated ... Date: 07-10-2024 Categories: • Community • News
Some pharmacies to start issuing NHS electronic prescriptions ... macies could claim, as well as the speed of the roll-out of the project. It comes as changes to pharmacist education mean that from September 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists will become independent prescribers at the point of registration. And the new Labour government has promised a Community Pharmacist Prescribing Service as part of its pre-election manifesto. It said this would grant more pharmacists i ... Date: 29-08-2024 Categories: • Community • News
Support DPPs with protected learning time, RPS urges ... me of the current DPP challenges for community pharmacy.' A parliamentary committee report published in May identified the need to ensure those graduating as independent prescribers from 2026 are ‘given protected learning time, adequate supervision, career development opportunities and that there are commissioned services available so they regularly make use of their IP qualification’. And it said ‘greater plannin ... Date: 12-08-2024 Categories: • Community • News
Pre-reg trainees will be supported by ‘communities of practice’, promises NHSE ... said. And it has also offered to match designated prescribing practitioners (DPPs) with training placements that need access to DPP supervision. This comes as NHSE has urged active pharmacy independent prescribers to consider training as designated prescribing practitioners (DPP) under its funded and flexible training offer with ProPharmace. ‘On completion of this course (or if you are a DPP already and would l ... Date: 12-06-2024 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News
‘Greater planning’ needed on pharmacy workforce across all settings ... rged. A new report published by the Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) stressed this would become ‘ever more urgent’ as 2026 approaches and all newly qualified pharmacists will be independent prescribers. The 68-page document, which comes as part of the committee’s inquiry into pharmacy services, aired its specific concerns around the pharmacy workforce in England and reiterated calls for an ‘integrated and f ... Date: 29-05-2024 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News
New chief strategy officer and deputy registrar appointed at GPhC ... vely with stakeholders across Great Britain to introduce once-in-a-generation reforms which will mean that from 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists will be independent prescribers when they join the register’. ‘Louise will continue this important work to make sure that the regulation of the education and training of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians is strategically designed, implemented and developed to deliver ... Date: 15-05-2024 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News
ARRS funding for DPPs could support community trainees ... ders’ to discuss the issues that needed addressing. ‘These included but not limited to locating the DPPs in our respective areas, supporting current independent prescribers (IPs) to become DPPs and ultimately, for those prescribers within GP surgeries and other settings recognising the benefit of supporting those pharmacists working within the community pharmacy sector,' it added in an update on its website. ‘The ... Date: 14-05-2024 Categories: • Community • News
ARRS funding can be used to fund DPPs ... artnerships to support integrated clinical pathways for patients. And he confirmed that NHSE funded training for the existing pharmacist workforce to train as independent prescribers would continue this year. Date: 10-05-2024 Categories: • In Practice • News
Scottish trade unions get behind pharmacist access to patient records ... holiday periods’, the PDA said. The union raised concerns about how a lack of access to patient records would work with an increasing number of pharmacists qualifying as independent prescribers. ‘Many pharmacists do not have full and proper access to patient records and are being asked to prescribe drugs without the ability to access relevant information about the patient,’ the motion read. And while it commit ... Date: 18-04-2024 Categories: • Community • News
RPS and HEIW partner for prescribing training in Wales ... programme would ‘improve confidence in prescribing and equity of access to the provision of the PIPS across Wales.’ From 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists across the UK will become independent prescribers at the point of registration. And HEIW has committed to ensuring that all pharmacists in Wales identified as requiring an IP qualification 'have been safely and successfully trained to IP standards' by August ... Date: 09-04-2024 Categories: • Community • News
‘No change’ expected in antibiotic use under Pharmacy First ... ld lay the groundwork for an increase in pharmacist prescribing, following pilots currently running across the country. With all new pharmacists graduating as independent prescribers from 2026, ‘starting this process of Pharmacy First with a really formal evaluation will absolutely help us to move on as soon as that happens,’ Dr Doyle said. NHSE, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Community Pharma ... Date: 27-03-2024 Categories: • Community • In Practice • Pharmacy First
Commissioners need to see pharmacy as an ‘investable proposition’, says Wales CPhO ... And he added: ‘We wanted a workforce with the skills needed to deliver outstanding pharmaceutical care, and to do that we would offer more opportunities for pharmacists to train as independent prescribers to deliver our independent prescribing service.’ He also stressed the importance of making the most of pharmacy technicians in order to ‘realise the opportunities’ for pharmacists. Community pharmacy in Wales ha ... Date: 01-03-2024 Categories: • Community • News
Clinical service is the future for community pharmacy, says NHS director ... od or in the community for people, with some increasingly automated dispensing of tablets on the side.’ Dr Doyle added: ‘In 2026, all graduate pharmacists will be independent prescribers, and that is a game-changer for general practice as well as community pharmacy. ‘We really see community pharmacy as a big part of the future of clinical service provision.’ Date: 29-02-2024 Categories: • Community • News
Former health secretary praises ‘sensible approach’ of Pharmacy First ... Shadow pharmacy minister and Labour (Co-op) MP for Birmingham, Edgbaston, Preet Kaur Gill asked what the government’s plan was to ‘integrate the increase in independent prescribers who are being trained as part of the long-term workforce plan’. And she asked whether Dame Andrea agreed ‘that we should be accelerating the roll-out of independent prescribing to establish a community pharmacist prescribing service cov ... Date: 08-02-2024 Categories: • Community • News • Pharmacy First
RPS changes position on prescribing and dispensing separation ... Crown Report. A new position statement has been published, along with supporting professional guidance developed jointly with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). The statement recognises that independent prescribers across all professions already prescribe and supply or administer medicines for the same patient, and that being unable to do so would potentially have a negative impact on patient experience and care. ... Date: 01-02-2024 Categories: • News
Keith Ridge: HEIs shouldn’t ‘wash their hands’ of prescribing training responsibilities Former chief pharmaceutical officer (CPhO) for England Keith Ridge has questioned whether the current model of training independent prescribers is fit for purpose, as increasing numbers of pharmacists look to pursue the qualification. Currently, each trainee prescriber must be supervised by a Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP), wit ... Date: 14-11-2023 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News
CPhO: Pharmacists bring ‘judicious approach’ to medicines prescribing ... ines prescribing, chief pharmaceutical officer (CPhO) for England David Webb suggested at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s (RPS) Annual Conference last week. With more pharmacists becoming independent prescribers, Mr Webb suggested that the profession could play a role in reducing the overprescribing of medicines. He suggested that pharmacist prescribers ‘collectively bring a judicious approach to the use of med ... Date: 13-11-2023 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News
New trainee funding risks pay below minimum wage, sector warns ... ‘any increase to funding for trainee pharmacists’, he warned that the rate ‘still undervalues the current role, let alone the situation once those becoming registrants will be trained to be independent prescribers too’. And he told The Pharmacist that funding in England ‘continues to lag behind the other British nations’, with trainee pharmacists in Wales already employed on NHS pay band 5 at £28,407 and those in Sco ... Date: 08-11-2023 Categories: • Community • News
Pharmacists call for greater awareness following Question Time comment ... that many pharmacists working within general practice were qualified as independent prescribers, giving them the clinical background to recommend alternative medications within their scope of practice. While Mr Hossain suggested that the public were generally unaware of the support they could access from community and practice-based pharmacists, he said that this had begun to change in recent months with national NHS ... Date: 03-11-2023 Categories: • In Practice • News
Independent prescribing training for existing workforce ‘biggest challenge’ for pharmacists Independent prescribing (IP) training for the existing workforce was considered the biggest challenge facing the profession in our exclusive survey of community and practice pharmacists. Respondents were asked what they ... Date: 27-10-2023 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News
How ICS leaders can approach community pharmacy ... to think about? The ambition for community pharmacy, and indeed the wider pharmacy sector, to take on more direct clinical work with patients is clear. From 2026, all pharmacists will qualify as independent prescribers, and will have enhanced clinical, population health and consultation skills. The delivery plan for recovering access to primary care published by NHS England in May 2023 includes a commitment to invest ... Date: 06-10-2023 Categories: • Community • Views
Less than half of practice pharmacists have positive inductions, suggests survey ... or pharmacists working in practice’. The PDA added that this should include a period of supervised prescribing for newly qualified independent prescribers, or those who have not used their prescribing qualification, ‘based on the model for GP registrars’. And it added that this was ‘particularly important given that soon all newly registered pharmacists will be prescribers from the first day of their registration’ ... Date: 04-10-2023 Categories: • In Practice • News
Views sought on increasing practice pharmacist training placements in Wales ... ied health professionals and other professionals, as well as ‘embedding changes in pharmacy initial education and training requirements’. Other proposals include increasing the number of independent prescribers in primary care across all settings, developing a programme to support professionals supervising others, and increasing the number of apprenticeships in primary health services and expanding the number of peop ... Date: 04-10-2023 Categories: • In Practice • News
Government urged to close funding gap for pharmacy students ... travel and accommodation for pharmacy students on clinical placements would be a positive first step.’ The letter also points out that from 2026, all new pharmacists will qualify as independent prescribers, and that the NHS estimates that education and training places for pharmacists need to grow by 31% to 55% to meet the demand for pharmacy services. Tase Oputu, RPS England chair, said: ‘As pharmacists are playi ... Date: 27-09-2023 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News
Exclusive: Scotland’s pharmacotherapy service needs long-term workforce planning ... es, which I think will be invaluable’. And Ms Wilson described the change in pharmacy training that will see all pharmacists qualifying as independent prescribers at the point of registration from 2026 as ‘a game changer for patient care’. ‘It will be a really big benefit to the healthcare system that we have in this cohort of prescribers [that are] ready to go,’ Ms Wilson added. A Scottish government spokesper ... Date: 20-09-2023 Categories: • In Practice • News
Include pharmacists as health professionals, creators tell YouTube ... medications, which could be invaluable to the public,’ he noted. ‘Considering there are over 60,000 registered pharmacists in the UK—with all new graduates becoming independent prescribers from 2026 onwards—our role in online healthcare education could be monumental.’ Mr Sacranie’s MicroPharm YouTube channel has amassed over one million views, and is followed by 136,000 people across platforms including YouTube, I ... Date: 13-09-2023 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News
Latest NHS community pharmacist figures ‘may be overestimated’ ... d incentivise businesses to invest in upskilling its workforce. This comes as the NHS workforce survey suggested that the proportion of pharmacist independent prescribers using their qualification in a community setting decreased from 25% in 2021 to just 17% in 2022. In particular, it said that setting out a clear role for pharmacist prescribers in community pharmacy would help to achieve its target of 95% of comm ... Date: 06-09-2023 Categories: • Community • News
Funded training for prescribing supervisors launched Independent prescribers can learn how to supervise prescribing training through a funded programme launching in England next month. There are 500 places available for pharmacy staff to train as Designated Prescribing Pra ... Date: 30-08-2023 Categories: • News
New training for pharmacy technicians to launch in September ... macy technicians to apply for new fully funded training launching in September. The training aims to enable community pharmacy technicians to take on responsibility while more pharmacists train as independent prescribers. Pharmacy technicians will be trained in consultation skills, therapeutics, clinical decision making and assessment skills as well as service improvement. The training will be delivered online, ... Date: 16-08-2023 Categories: • News
NHSE ‘monitoring’ availability of IP training places ... armacy workforce survey, the results of which were published this week, found that between autumn 2021 and autumn 2022, there was a 37% increase in the reported number of independent prescribers (IPs) working in community pharmacy. But Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the Company Chemists’ Association, raised concerns that the 37% increase in the number of IPs 'does not reflect the whole picture'. He said: 'Th ... Date: 04-08-2023 Categories: • News

Pharmacy First uptake falling short of expectations, says Kinnock ... mmunity pharmacies in England to support patients and help to alleviate the pressure on GP surgeries.' Last week, Mr Kinnock suggested that as more pharmacists become independent prescribers next year, the government would make ‘even better use’ of the profession’s skills. Date: 23-06-2025 Categories: • Community • Latest News • News • Pharmacy First

Interview: New NPA vice chair on achieving ‘advocacy and a real voice’ for pharmacy ... ith changes coming in next year that will see all newly qualified pharmacists become independent prescribers, Ms Basra said it was vital that a role opened up within community pharmacy to use this qualification. Ms Bara and her colleague Helen Yohannes are both independent prescribing pharmacists but ‘it’s not being utilised’ in the community, she said. ‘There's no pathway for me and Helen to provide NHS [prescrib ... Date: 20-06-2025 Categories: • Community • Interviews • Pharmacy First

GPhC launches new strategic plan to ‘empower’ pharmacists ... cy professions are both evolving rapidly, including pharmacies taking on expanded role in prescribing medicines, with all newly qualified pharmacists joining the register as independent prescribers for next year,’ she said. Duncan Rudkin, chief executive of the GPhC, said: ‘At the heart of this strategy lies an unwavering commitment to the safety and wellbeing of the people of Great Britain. ‘By empowering the pha ... Date: 19-06-2025 Categories: • Community • Latest News • News

Government will make ‘even better use’ of pharmacists following prescribing changes ... nister Stephen Kinnock has stressed. Speaking at the launch of the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) new strategic plan for 2025-2030, Mr Kinn0ck said that as more pharmacists become independent prescribers next year, the government would make ‘even better use’ of the profession’s skills. He reiterated the government’s commitment to shifting care from hospital to community, from analogue to digital and sickn ... Date: 19-06-2025 Categories: • Community • Latest News • News

NHSE funds 3,300 places on pharmacist independent prescribing courses ... a fully-funded place directly by the university. Course length and the number of face-to-face days required vary between universities. The news comes as all pharmacists will qualify as independent prescribers from 2026. One in three pharmacists in Great Britain are now independent prescribers, according to recent data from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). As of 31 March 2025, the total number of pharm ... Date: 30-05-2025 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News

Interview: HubRx is for pharmacists 'at the end of their tether' ... l services. 'That's what we've done within our branches, and we've increased our clinical services no end,' he told The Pharmacist. 'All the pharmacists are being retrained to become independent prescribers. We're moving them to a place where they they have a sense of purpose. They're enjoying their role because it's more varied. They're not just stuck at the dispensing bench, swamped under pressure, feeling like ... Date: 29-05-2025 Categories: • Community • Interviews

New NPA chair sets out a change in tactics Calling off its proposed collective action is a sign that the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has slowed down its campaign in order to engage in conversation with ministers, new NPA chair Olivier Picard has said. At ... Date: 16-05-2025 Categories: • Community • News

Financial impact of contract must be calculated, NPA urges ... ot fully answered’ by the economic analysis and that it wanted to see a ‘focus on the economics of future clinical services and the opportunities created by independent prescribers in community pharmacies in England’. Other recommendations called on all pharmacy bodies to help ‘develop and propose ideas for reform of the CPCF alongside the work on substantive reform of the GP contract’. It also asked that NHS Engl ... Date: 13-05-2025 Categories: • Community • News

CPhOs quizzed on patient registration for pharmacist prescribers ... land and Northern Ireland were asked whether they thought requiring patients to register with a pharmacist, as they do with a GP, would help 'ensure that there is a job role' for community pharmacist independent prescribers. Data shows that 21,804 pharmacists now have an independent prescribing (IP) annotation, representing 33% of all registered pharmacists. And from 2026, new pharmacists will join the register as ... Date: 13-05-2025 Categories: • Cardiovascular • Clinical • Community • Diabetes and endocrinology • In Practice • News

Third of pharmacists in Great Britain are now independent prescribers One in three pharmacists in Great Britain are now independent prescribers, according to recent data from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). Data shows that 21,804 pharmacists now have an independent prescribing (IP) annotation, representing 33% of all registered ... Date: 07-05-2025 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News

What could Kinnock's vision for pharmacy 'reform' look like? ... Pharmaceutical Society England pharmacy board chair, commented on wider reforms across pharmacist education and training that, from 2026, will see all newly qualified pharmacists become independent prescribers. 'With the right support, this could see a step change in the clinical role of pharmacists within the NHS,' she said. 'Enhanced pharmacist prescribing services could build on Pharmacy First, better manage de ... Date: 11-04-2025 Categories: • Analysis • Community • News

GPhC updates education and training guidance to support sustainability commitments Guidance for the education and training of pharmacists and pharmacist independent prescribers has been updated to reflect commitments to sustainability, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has announced. The updated guidance highlights the crucial role of pharmacists as medicines exp ... Date: 26-02-2025 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News

Pharmacy First: A year of transformation for community pharmacy ... ctiveness improves. That’s where we need to get to in England. Looking ahead five years, I fully expect Pharmacy First to evolve into an expanded prescribing service, especially as more independent prescribers join the community pharmacy workforce. Pharmacy First, linked to prescribing from a community pharmacy setting, has the power to be truly transformative for community-based care. The will is there, both from ph ... Date: 07-02-2025 Categories: • Community • Pharmacy First • Views

Majority of practice pharmacists plan to stay in sector in five years' time ... e said that 'more and more pharmacists' saw prescribing skills 'as a necessity', especially given education changes coming in next year that will see all newly registered pharmacists qualified as independent prescribers. However, she suggested that in community pharmacy, pharmacists qualified as independent prescribers 'struggle to prescribe', unless they set up their own private practice. 'Community pharmacy has ... Date: 09-01-2025 Categories: • In Practice • Investigations • News • Workforce report

Government commits to new workforce plan with 'laser-focus' on community ... erson told The Pharmacist today. In particular, the PDA said there needed to be 'a comprehensive and funded solution for the provision of supervision of those who will be independent prescribers (IPs)', as well as 'full consideration of those pharmacists who choose not to become IPs during the next ten years'. Meanwhile Dr James Davies, director of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in England said that pharma ... Date: 09-12-2024 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News

More than half of PCNs pay above ARRS allowance for pharmacists ... p their ARRS staff's salary from the PCN budget. And he noted that the pharmacist workforce was maturing, with many who had entered general practice under the ARRS scheme having now trained as independent prescribers. Dr Stretch, who is a pharmacist partner in a GP surgery, suggested that if pharmacists were using their prescribing qualification by 'practicing autonomously and managing patient workloads', then the ... Date: 28-11-2024 Categories: • In Practice • News

Pharmacy First won't tempt practice pharmacists back into community yet, survey suggests ... that changes to the initial education of pharmacists to include prescribing training might push the legacy workforce into becoming independent prescribers, ‘because they don’t want to get left behind’. He said he was unsurprised by the survey findings that highlighted concerns around workforce and workload pressures in community pharmacy. And he suggested that with the current financial situation across primary c ... Date: 21-11-2024 Categories: • Community • In Practice • Investigations • News • Pharmacy First • Workforce report

Lord Darzi: Pharmacy closures ‘a grave concern’ that must be investigated by MPs ... of medicines. ‘With the success of Pharmacy First in supporting patients and more pharmacists practicing as independent prescribers, the Government, as it looks to develop a 10-Year NHS Plan, should reflect on how pharmacy is prioritised and funded across the system.’ She noted that the RPS’ evidence to the Darzi review highlighted the ‘increased demand’ on pharmacy teams and that ‘warnings of pharmacy closures m ... Date: 20-11-2024 Categories: • Community • News • Pharmacy First

Leaders cast their vision for the future of community pharmacy ... ith patient-facing services like the NHS App. 'I'd like to see us delivering an expanded Pharmacy First service that's extended to more conditions, that provides really important opportunities for independent prescribers and flexibility to be able to carry out prescribing, deprescribing, medicine use reviews and all of that,' Ms Morrison said. She noted there was lots that could be done to 'fully optimise' the ser ... Date: 15-10-2024 Categories: • Cardiovascular • Clinical • Community • Diabetes and endocrinology • News • Nutrition and gastroenterology • Respiratory • Vaccinations and infections

Prescribing service will likely build on Pharmacy First, suggests CPE ... to think about how we can increase the conditions in Pharmacy First [and] use the skills of pharmacy teams to do more medicine use reviews for prescribing and deprescribing, and to provide a role for independent prescribers in the future.' 'That's what government would like to see from us, and can see the potential from us,' Ms Morrison added. Though CPE has told government that they 'cannot have any expansion unl ... Date: 14-10-2024 Categories: • Community • News • Pharmacy First

Fewer than one in ten community pharmacists can prescribe, NHSE suggests Around 8% of community pharmacists in England were qualified as independent prescribers (IPs) in 2023, an NHS England workforce survey has suggested. In 2023, around 2,217 community pharmacists were IP qualified, or around 8% of the total community pharmacist workforce - an estimated ... Date: 07-10-2024 Categories: • Community • News

Some pharmacies to start issuing NHS electronic prescriptions ... macies could claim, as well as the speed of the roll-out of the project. It comes as changes to pharmacist education mean that from September 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists will become independent prescribers at the point of registration. And the new Labour government has promised a Community Pharmacist Prescribing Service as part of its pre-election manifesto. It said this would grant more pharmacists i ... Date: 29-08-2024 Categories: • Community • News

Support DPPs with protected learning time, RPS urges ... me of the current DPP challenges for community pharmacy.' A parliamentary committee report published in May identified the need to ensure those graduating as independent prescribers from 2026 are ‘given protected learning time, adequate supervision, career development opportunities and that there are commissioned services available so they regularly make use of their IP qualification’. And it said ‘greater plannin ... Date: 12-08-2024 Categories: • Community • News

Pre-reg trainees will be supported by ‘communities of practice’, promises NHSE ... said. And it has also offered to match designated prescribing practitioners (DPPs) with training placements that need access to DPP supervision. This comes as NHSE has urged active pharmacy independent prescribers to consider training as designated prescribing practitioners (DPP) under its funded and flexible training offer with ProPharmace. ‘On completion of this course (or if you are a DPP already and would l ... Date: 12-06-2024 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News

‘Greater planning’ needed on pharmacy workforce across all settings ... rged. A new report published by the Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) stressed this would become ‘ever more urgent’ as 2026 approaches and all newly qualified pharmacists will be independent prescribers. The 68-page document, which comes as part of the committee’s inquiry into pharmacy services, aired its specific concerns around the pharmacy workforce in England and reiterated calls for an ‘integrated and f ... Date: 29-05-2024 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News

New chief strategy officer and deputy registrar appointed at GPhC ... vely with stakeholders across Great Britain to introduce once-in-a-generation reforms which will mean that from 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists will be independent prescribers when they join the register’. ‘Louise will continue this important work to make sure that the regulation of the education and training of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians is strategically designed, implemented and developed to deliver ... Date: 15-05-2024 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News

ARRS funding for DPPs could support community trainees ... ders’ to discuss the issues that needed addressing. ‘These included but not limited to locating the DPPs in our respective areas, supporting current independent prescribers (IPs) to become DPPs and ultimately, for those prescribers within GP surgeries and other settings recognising the benefit of supporting those pharmacists working within the community pharmacy sector,' it added in an update on its website. ‘The ... Date: 14-05-2024 Categories: • Community • News

ARRS funding can be used to fund DPPs ... artnerships to support integrated clinical pathways for patients. And he confirmed that NHSE funded training for the existing pharmacist workforce to train as independent prescribers would continue this year. Date: 10-05-2024 Categories: • In Practice • News

Scottish trade unions get behind pharmacist access to patient records ... holiday periods’, the PDA said. The union raised concerns about how a lack of access to patient records would work with an increasing number of pharmacists qualifying as independent prescribers. ‘Many pharmacists do not have full and proper access to patient records and are being asked to prescribe drugs without the ability to access relevant information about the patient,’ the motion read. And while it commit ... Date: 18-04-2024 Categories: • Community • News

RPS and HEIW partner for prescribing training in Wales ... programme would ‘improve confidence in prescribing and equity of access to the provision of the PIPS across Wales.’ From 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists across the UK will become independent prescribers at the point of registration. And HEIW has committed to ensuring that all pharmacists in Wales identified as requiring an IP qualification 'have been safely and successfully trained to IP standards' by August ... Date: 09-04-2024 Categories: • Community • News

‘No change’ expected in antibiotic use under Pharmacy First ... ld lay the groundwork for an increase in pharmacist prescribing, following pilots currently running across the country. With all new pharmacists graduating as independent prescribers from 2026, ‘starting this process of Pharmacy First with a really formal evaluation will absolutely help us to move on as soon as that happens,’ Dr Doyle said. NHSE, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Community Pharma ... Date: 27-03-2024 Categories: • Community • In Practice • Pharmacy First

Commissioners need to see pharmacy as an ‘investable proposition’, says Wales CPhO ... And he added: ‘We wanted a workforce with the skills needed to deliver outstanding pharmaceutical care, and to do that we would offer more opportunities for pharmacists to train as independent prescribers to deliver our independent prescribing service.’ He also stressed the importance of making the most of pharmacy technicians in order to ‘realise the opportunities’ for pharmacists. Community pharmacy in Wales ha ... Date: 01-03-2024 Categories: • Community • News

Clinical service is the future for community pharmacy, says NHS director ... od or in the community for people, with some increasingly automated dispensing of tablets on the side.’ Dr Doyle added: ‘In 2026, all graduate pharmacists will be independent prescribers, and that is a game-changer for general practice as well as community pharmacy. ‘We really see community pharmacy as a big part of the future of clinical service provision.’ Date: 29-02-2024 Categories: • Community • News

Former health secretary praises ‘sensible approach’ of Pharmacy First ... Shadow pharmacy minister and Labour (Co-op) MP for Birmingham, Edgbaston, Preet Kaur Gill asked what the government’s plan was to ‘integrate the increase in independent prescribers who are being trained as part of the long-term workforce plan’. And she asked whether Dame Andrea agreed ‘that we should be accelerating the roll-out of independent prescribing to establish a community pharmacist prescribing service cov ... Date: 08-02-2024 Categories: • Community • News • Pharmacy First

RPS changes position on prescribing and dispensing separation ... Crown Report. A new position statement has been published, along with supporting professional guidance developed jointly with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). The statement recognises that independent prescribers across all professions already prescribe and supply or administer medicines for the same patient, and that being unable to do so would potentially have a negative impact on patient experience and care. ... Date: 01-02-2024 Categories: • News

Keith Ridge: HEIs shouldn’t ‘wash their hands’ of prescribing training responsibilities Former chief pharmaceutical officer (CPhO) for England Keith Ridge has questioned whether the current model of training independent prescribers is fit for purpose, as increasing numbers of pharmacists look to pursue the qualification. Currently, each trainee prescriber must be supervised by a Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP), wit ... Date: 14-11-2023 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News

CPhO: Pharmacists bring ‘judicious approach’ to medicines prescribing ... ines prescribing, chief pharmaceutical officer (CPhO) for England David Webb suggested at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s (RPS) Annual Conference last week. With more pharmacists becoming independent prescribers, Mr Webb suggested that the profession could play a role in reducing the overprescribing of medicines. He suggested that pharmacist prescribers ‘collectively bring a judicious approach to the use of med ... Date: 13-11-2023 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News

New trainee funding risks pay below minimum wage, sector warns ... ‘any increase to funding for trainee pharmacists’, he warned that the rate ‘still undervalues the current role, let alone the situation once those becoming registrants will be trained to be independent prescribers too’. And he told The Pharmacist that funding in England ‘continues to lag behind the other British nations’, with trainee pharmacists in Wales already employed on NHS pay band 5 at £28,407 and those in Sco ... Date: 08-11-2023 Categories: • Community • News

Pharmacists call for greater awareness following Question Time comment ... that many pharmacists working within general practice were qualified as independent prescribers, giving them the clinical background to recommend alternative medications within their scope of practice. While Mr Hossain suggested that the public were generally unaware of the support they could access from community and practice-based pharmacists, he said that this had begun to change in recent months with national NHS ... Date: 03-11-2023 Categories: • In Practice • News

Independent prescribing training for existing workforce ‘biggest challenge’ for pharmacists Independent prescribing (IP) training for the existing workforce was considered the biggest challenge facing the profession in our exclusive survey of community and practice pharmacists. Respondents were asked what they ... Date: 27-10-2023 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News

How ICS leaders can approach community pharmacy ... to think about? The ambition for community pharmacy, and indeed the wider pharmacy sector, to take on more direct clinical work with patients is clear. From 2026, all pharmacists will qualify as independent prescribers, and will have enhanced clinical, population health and consultation skills. The delivery plan for recovering access to primary care published by NHS England in May 2023 includes a commitment to invest ... Date: 06-10-2023 Categories: • Community • Views

Less than half of practice pharmacists have positive inductions, suggests survey ... or pharmacists working in practice’. The PDA added that this should include a period of supervised prescribing for newly qualified independent prescribers, or those who have not used their prescribing qualification, ‘based on the model for GP registrars’. And it added that this was ‘particularly important given that soon all newly registered pharmacists will be prescribers from the first day of their registration’ ... Date: 04-10-2023 Categories: • In Practice • News

Views sought on increasing practice pharmacist training placements in Wales ... ied health professionals and other professionals, as well as ‘embedding changes in pharmacy initial education and training requirements’. Other proposals include increasing the number of independent prescribers in primary care across all settings, developing a programme to support professionals supervising others, and increasing the number of apprenticeships in primary health services and expanding the number of peop ... Date: 04-10-2023 Categories: • In Practice • News

Government urged to close funding gap for pharmacy students ... travel and accommodation for pharmacy students on clinical placements would be a positive first step.’ The letter also points out that from 2026, all new pharmacists will qualify as independent prescribers, and that the NHS estimates that education and training places for pharmacists need to grow by 31% to 55% to meet the demand for pharmacy services. Tase Oputu, RPS England chair, said: ‘As pharmacists are playi ... Date: 27-09-2023 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News

Exclusive: Scotland’s pharmacotherapy service needs long-term workforce planning ... es, which I think will be invaluable’. And Ms Wilson described the change in pharmacy training that will see all pharmacists qualifying as independent prescribers at the point of registration from 2026 as ‘a game changer for patient care’. ‘It will be a really big benefit to the healthcare system that we have in this cohort of prescribers [that are] ready to go,’ Ms Wilson added. A Scottish government spokesper ... Date: 20-09-2023 Categories: • In Practice • News

Include pharmacists as health professionals, creators tell YouTube ... medications, which could be invaluable to the public,’ he noted. ‘Considering there are over 60,000 registered pharmacists in the UK—with all new graduates becoming independent prescribers from 2026 onwards—our role in online healthcare education could be monumental.’ Mr Sacranie’s MicroPharm YouTube channel has amassed over one million views, and is followed by 136,000 people across platforms including YouTube, I ... Date: 13-09-2023 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News

Latest NHS community pharmacist figures ‘may be overestimated’ ... d incentivise businesses to invest in upskilling its workforce. This comes as the NHS workforce survey suggested that the proportion of pharmacist independent prescribers using their qualification in a community setting decreased from 25% in 2021 to just 17% in 2022. In particular, it said that setting out a clear role for pharmacist prescribers in community pharmacy would help to achieve its target of 95% of comm ... Date: 06-09-2023 Categories: • Community • News

Funded training for prescribing supervisors launched Independent prescribers can learn how to supervise prescribing training through a funded programme launching in England next month. There are 500 places available for pharmacy staff to train as Designated Prescribing Pra ... Date: 30-08-2023 Categories: • News

New training for pharmacy technicians to launch in September ... macy technicians to apply for new fully funded training launching in September. The training aims to enable community pharmacy technicians to take on responsibility while more pharmacists train as independent prescribers. Pharmacy technicians will be trained in consultation skills, therapeutics, clinical decision making and assessment skills as well as service improvement. The training will be delivered online, ... Date: 16-08-2023 Categories: • News

NHSE ‘monitoring’ availability of IP training places ... armacy workforce survey, the results of which were published this week, found that between autumn 2021 and autumn 2022, there was a 37% increase in the reported number of independent prescribers (IPs) working in community pharmacy. But Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the Company Chemists’ Association, raised concerns that the 37% increase in the number of IPs 'does not reflect the whole picture'. He said: 'Th ... Date: 04-08-2023 Categories: • News

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