Lincolnshire Teach and Treat: Helping Community Pharmacists to upskill – Support for GPs acting as Designated Prescribing Practitioners for community pharmacists

Now that NHS England have announced further funding for Independent Prescriber training as detailed on CPE’s website here, we at the LPC are launching a support programme to assist the engaging of a DPP for ten community based pharmacists in Lincolnshire.

Community Pharmacy Lincolnshire have accessed a limited amount of funding to support General Practitioners who are willing to act as Designated Prescribing Practitioners for ten Lincolnshire community pharmacy based pharmacists completing their Independent Prescribing course.

We know that one of the main barriers to completing an Independent Prescribing course is finding a GP to support.  Once you have completed your DPP supervised content, your supervising GP will be able to access funding of £1,750 to cover the admin costs and their time needed to support you.

In order to be considered for the programme, as a community pharmacist based in a community pharmacy in Lincolnshire, you will need to apply agreeing to the following:

• Find a GP to supervise you and both parties agree to the arrangement, signing the MOU accessible here. The ICB may wish to help in this area.
• Apply for and be accepted onto an Independent Prescriber programme. Read more about the NHS funded programmes here
• You as the pharmacist candidate must agree to complete the CPPE preparation to train as a prescriber programme. The programme is designed to be completed in the candidates own time over a number of weeks, full details can be found here:

https://www.cppe.ac.uk/career/preparingtotrainip

A summary of the CPPE preparation to train as a prescriber programme is as follows:

This is a fully funded programme that helps pharmacists develop the skills and confidence needed to best prepare for independent prescriber training. The programme is made up of four main components:

1. a self-directed e-course and self-assessment framework
2. a mandatory online workshop to support your self-assessment of competencies and develop a personal development plan.
3. an optional online workshop to support your readiness for academic writing and reflective practice.
4. optional peer support sessions, providing an opportunity for you to develop your professional network and establish communities of practice.

FAQs document here: https://www.cppe.ac.uk/wizard/files/pttip%20learner%20faqs.pdf

If you would like to express an interest please complete the short form here as soon as possible. There is currently no closing date for the programme, as it will run until all ten places have been filled. If you are signing up for an independent prescriber programme beginning next year, please do apply now to be considered for the available support.