Seven new pharmacy training courses from Health Education England

Money from the Pharmacy Integration Fund (PhIF) is being used to develop seven training courses for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, Health Education England (HEE) has announced.

The courses have been developed with input from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK) and other partners. HEE said the courses will be fully funded and may be completed either during work hours, or in the student’s own time.

The seven courses are:

• Independent prescribing for pharmacists in GP practices, care homes and integrated urgent care;
• Post-registration training for community pharmacists;
• NHS 111/integrated urgent care workforce development programme for pharmacists;
• Accuracy-checking pharmacy technician programme;
• Care homes pharmacist and pharmacy technician training pathway;
• Community pharmacy technician training and development programme;
• Clinical and professional leadership development for pharmacy professionals.

The ‘Post-registration training for community pharmacists’ course launched on 25 January 2018, and the ‘Community pharmacy technician training and development programme’ will be piloted at Coventry University between February and December 2018. The ‘Clinical and professional leadership development for pharmacy professionals’ course was launched in October 2017.

Sandra Gidley, chair of the English Pharmacy Board, welcomed the announcement, saying it is “very positive that NHS England has recognised that investment in the development of pharmacists is good value and supports improved patient care.”

But Gidley added that while the PhIF-funded courses are welcome, “unless we develop new clinical services, we are not making the most of that investment.

“There does appear to be a lack of joined-up thinking at the highest level, and we will certainly be raising this at future meetings,” she said.