HEE said yesterday (March 16) that the “new, flexible NHS-funded training offer” for community pharmacists is being launched this month.
It said the clinical examination skills training scheme would “further support the clinical role of community pharmacists in NHS primary care services and improve access to patient care”.
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The scheme, which offers 10,000 module places, is coordinated by HEE with the Pharmacy Integration Programme at NHS England (NHSE) and will be delivered by CliniSkills (Clinical Skills Training Ltd) until March 2024, it added.
It will give pharmacists across England the opportunity to “build on their existing clinical examination and consultation skills to assess, treat and manage common health problems”, HEE said.
Its website added that the fully-funded scheme, which is open for registration now, is available for community pharmacists including part-time staff and locums.
“Complementary” to IP training
The training “is designed to be complementary to independent prescribing (IP) training and can be completed prior to or after” IP training courses, it added.
Following completion of a “pre-required online gateway module” on history taking and identification of serious conditions, pharmacists can choose their preferred journey through four optional modules, HEE said.
Read more: HEE to fund 3,000 independent prescribing places in 2023/24
These modules cover dermatology, cardiology, paediatrics, and ear, nose and throat, it added.
The course, which can be completed by pharmacists “at a pace and time of their choice”, will be delivered online via an eLearning system but with “optional face-to-face attendance” for those who “would find this beneficial”, it said.
“Face-to-face workshops will be scheduled to accommodate pharmacist working patterns,” HEE added.
“Changing landscape” in community pharmacy
HEE deputy chief operating officer Alan Ryan said the new training offer “has been designed to directly support the training needs identified through engagement with community pharmacists and community pharmacy leaders”.
It comes amid the “changing landscape of clinical activities in the community pharmacy setting”, he added.
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“This training offers a focused range of clinical skills training modules that will increase the confidence of community pharmacists to manage the types of clinical cases that are increasingly presenting in the community pharmacy setting,” he said.
Course “matches NHSE’s future plans”
Chief pharmaceutical officer at NHSE David Webb added that it is “exciting” to see the Pharmacy Integration Programme community pharmacist training’s next phase “developing into specialist areas such as cardiology”.
This “matches” NHSE’s "future plans”, he said.
Read more: Funded programme for newly-qualified pharmacists open for registration
“The offer of clinical examination skills training supports the clinical future and career progression for pharmacists, either as a skills’ refresh for existing prescribers who wish to extend their practice, or to help pharmacists support newly qualified prescribers, or as a step towards independent prescribing training,” Mr Webb added.
The new course comes as people “increasingly choose to visit community pharmacy for clinical care from a pharmacist”, including through services such as NHS blood pressure checks and the NHS community pharmacist consultation service, HEE said.
