Funding Training for Pharmacists to become Independent Prescribers in London

Background

You will have seen application forms in September 2015 for funding to support course fees for pharmacists working in primary care (e.g. community pharmacy, CCGs and general practice), to train as independent prescribers (IP).

Additional funding has now been secured from Health Education North and Central East London (HENCEL) and Health Education South London (HESL) to train up to an additional 70 pharmacist prescribers. As a result we are now opening a second round of applications.

We have responded to feedback from pharmacists working in primary care and have altered the application criteria to fit better with the structure of primary care pharmacy.

The application process has been modified this time in that it is not essential to have an agreed prescribing budget or Designated Medical Practitioner (DMP) in place at the point of application for funding.

However, it will be essential that applicants have given considerable thought and can demonstrate within their application, how they would use a prescribing qualification to the benefit of NHS patients.

Applicants should:

  • Set out the vision of how they will use their qualification to benefit NHS patients (or if the service has not been agreed as of yet, then discussions should be underway at least and details of these should be included).
  • Applicantsshould articulate which partners (e.g. CCGs, GP federations, GP practices) they have / are in discussion with and detail the status of these discussions. We are particularly interested in how the application supports new models of care
  • ( redesign of service delivery.

Please note, notwithstanding the above, it will also be essential to have a DMP in place in order to proceed with your application to any University IP course.

What will the funding cover?

Funding will cover the cost of the training course only. It will not cover the cost of replacement at work or travel or accommodation. Please note the course fees will be paid directly to the University by the commissioner (i.e.the applicant will not have to pay the University up front and then seek reimbursement).

N.B. Securing funding does not mean that the individual will be accepted onto an independent prescribing course. A separate application must also be made to the independent prescribing course provider. Forms are available directly from the university and once completed, must be returned to the university. The university will notify applicants of their decision.

Selection Criteria

The outcomes that successful applications will be able to demonstrate will include:

  • The trained IP pharmacistwill be in a position to contribute to medicines optimisation in their primary care team. Applicants will need to explain what their contribution will be prior to funding being allocated to them.
  • Applicants can demonstrate clearly, a vision of the services they will provide post-qualification which will make a difference to NHS patient care, indicating precisely what that difference will look like. This will involve engagement and close collaboration with local commissioners (such as a CCG or Local Authority) or GPs / GP federations to ensure support for the proposed Pharmacist IP service
  • Applicants will provide an employer statement to support their application and indicate that it is aligned to services either delivered or intending to be delivered.

The applicant should articulate how their service will contributeto the current ‘hot topics’ of:

  • GP practice workload
  • Urgent and Emergency Care and keeping patients out of hospital
  • Pharmacy input into the provision of NHS 111 services
  • NHS England’s ‘medicines optimisation’ agenda

Examples of potential services might include: Pharmacist IP Walk-in-Centre services,Anticoagulation Clinics, Urgent Care Services, Long Term Condition Support, QOF support, support for District Nurse dressing supply.

Applications for this second round will open on Monday2 November 2015and close at 10pm on Sunday 29 November 2015. If you are interested in applying,we would also encourage you to make enquiries to your preferred University course provider so that an application has been submitted to them well before their deadlines, some of which are in November – you are advised to indicate on your application that you are currently in the process of bidding for funding.

If you have any queries regarding the process, please contact any of the following individuals for further information:

  • ForNEL LPC contact Bhavin Patel, ( )

Please complete the following details and e-mail the whole of this document (as a PDF) to
Fiona Peniston-Bird

Title / Dr, Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss (please indicate)
Applicant’s full name
Job Title
GPhC Registration number
No. of years post registration experience
Name of your (employing)organisation
Full Work addressincluding postcode
Work LETB or CCG Area
Contact telephone no. (work)
Contact telephone no. (other)
E-mail (write this very clearly)
Which setting/practice area will you be prescribing? (GP practice, Urgent or Emergency care, NHS 111, Walk-In Centre, Care Homes etc.)
For which group of patients will you prescribe?Please state disease/therapeutic area:
Address of setting (If multiple settings please include them)
LETB or CCG Area of setting
Name of university you have/intend to apply to for IP course
Statement from Employer
Provide a statement from your employer to support this application.
Name of employer and their position in the organisation
Contact phone number of employer
E-mail of employer
What arrangements have been made to support the applicant’s training needs?

Pleaseanswer the following questions:

  1. Give details of the therapeutic area you will be prescribing in (your “Scope of Practice”). Include the length of time you have been working in this area and the number of hours per week that you work.

  1. Describe the service are you planning.

  1. How was the service identified?

  1. How will the service be delivered and in which setting?

  1. What benefits will pharmacist independent prescribing skills bring to this service and how will they be used? (Consider the impact on easing GP Practice workload and Urgent Care / A&E attendance / keeping patients out of hospital)

  1. How will you measure or monitor the impact of using your independent prescribing skills post course on patients and/or the NHS?

  1. Has a Designated Medical Practitioner (DMP) been identified? If so please state their name, place of work, a contact e-mail and their sector of work. If a DMP has not yet been identified please outline how you propose to identify one.

  1. Which partners (e.g. CCGs, GP federations, GP practices) have been engaged with / are you in discussions with / are you in negotiation with?

  1. What stage are these discussions at?

  1. Has the partner confirmed that on completion of the course, the applicant will have the opportunity to prescribe in the post that they will occupy and have access to a budget to meet the costs of their prescriptions? (Has consideration been given to the applicants’ access to patients’ medical records during and after the course?)

  1. Please state the names of the partner organisations, name the lead contact at that organisation(s) and phone and e-mail contact(s).

  1. How does the proposed service support New Models of Care and redesign of service delivery?

Appendix 1 Supporting Information on Independent Prescribing Training

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) website has information for members on the role and responsibilities of an independent prescriber which may help you decide whether a prescribing role is right for you.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) website has lots of supporting information including:

  • Entry requirements for independent prescribing courses e.g.
  • An identified clinical area in which to practice as an independent prescriber
  • The support of a DMP to provide supervision, support and shadowing opportunities for pharmacists in a prescribing role
  • A list of all accredited independent prescribing courses
  • A list of all accredited independent prescribing courses.
  • Below is a non-exhaustive list of some local courses

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Name of University / Course Title (is it specific to Pharmacists or multi-disciplinary) / Length of course / Location of face to face sessions / Start date of course / Closing date for applications / Link to University website with course info / Phone number of University IP course coordinator
Anglia Ruskin University / Non-Medical Prescribing V300 (multi-disciplinary) / 7 months / Chelmsford & Cambridge / January 2016 / November 2015 / / Sarah Kraszewski
0845 196 4934

University of Brighton / Non-Medical Prescribing for Pharmacists (multi-disciplinary) / 6 months / Brighton / January 2016 / Claire May
01273 641917

University of Hertfordshire / Independent Prescribing for Pharmacists / 7 months / College Lane Campus in Hatfield / January 2016 / November 2015 / / Denise Knight
07811 024722

Keele University / Independent Prescribing / 6 months / Keele University (Stoke on Trent) / January 2016 / 20th November 2015 / / Linda Foster
01782 734117

King’s College London / Independent Prescribing Course for Pharmacists (multi-disciplinary) / 7 months / January 2016 / 17.00 27th November 2015 / / Professor Graham Davies

Medway School of Pharmacy / Postgraduate Certificate in Independent & Supplementary Prescribing / 8 months
Or
5 months / Chatham Maritime, Kent / May 2016 (multi-disciplinary, 8 months)
August 2016 (pharmacists only, 5 months) / 17th February 2015
Or
25th April 2015 / / Trudy Thomas
01634 202945

University of Portsmouth / The Clinical and professional aspects of prescribing / 8 months / Universityof
Portsmouth, St Michael's building and James Watson West, Portsmouth city centre / February 2016 (pharmacists only) / December 2015 / / Nikki Paine

University of Reading / Practice Certificate in Prescribing / 6 months
Or
5 months, weekend programme (pharmacists only) / Whiteknights campus, Reading / January 2016 (6 months, multi-disciplinary) / 30th October 2015 / / Marina Simms
0118 378 4636

London South Bank University / Post Graduate Certificate Non-Medical Prescribing (V300) / 6 months / Southwark / April & June 2016 / November 2015 / / Helen Ward
020 7815 6753

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