In News

Follow this topic

Bookmark

Record learning outcomes

Exclusive: Over a month after Labour said NHS England was undertaking an exercise to assess how many designated prescribing practitioners there are, NHSE has told P3pharmacy its workforce team is still not set up to record data on the number of DPPs in the system. 

The murky picture in England stands in contrast with Scotland, whose NHS education body told P3pharmacy that it does compile some data on the number of pharmacists who self-annotate as being DPPs.   

Health minister Karin Smyth said on July 7 that NHSE, which is responsible for managing the foundation year programme, was “in the process” of contacting all training sites in England hosting placements for foundation year pharmacists in order to request details of “all supervisors, including designated supervisors and DPPs”.

Ms Smyth’s comments, which were in response to a written question from Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, came amid concerns of a widespread shortage of DPPs – whose supervision is needed in order for pharmacists to be signed off as independent prescribers.

But in an August 12 response to a Freedom of Information request, NHSE told P3pharmacy that its workforce training and education team “do not hold data to confirm the total number of DPPs registered or active within NHS systems”.

Asked when it expects to complete the fact-finding exercise Ms Smyth referred to in her written statement, NHSE chose not to comment. 

NHSE informed P3pharmacy that 1,050 pharmacists have registered for ProPharmace’s free training course aimed at helping prospective DPPs navigate the requirements of the role, and that as of July 25 this year 829 pharmacists had completed the training. 

However, this training is not mandatory for those who wish to become a DPP. 

Scotland records 351 self-declarations

NHS Education for Scotland told P3pharmacy that while it does not hold a register of active DPPs, it “captures annual self-reported pharmacist prescribing workforce information, including whether the pharmacist is a DPP”.

“Currently, 351 pharmacists are annotating that they are, or have been, a DPP,” said NES. 

NES said it was “unaware of any difficulties for foundation trainee pharmacists and other aspiring pharmacist prescribers in Scotland accessing a DPP”.

It said it is "committed to supporting the development of DPPs to ensure high-quality supervision and training for pharmacy trainees and pharmacists undertaking independent prescribing,” but added: "Securing a suitable DPP is responsibility of the trainee and their employer or training site. 

“As a result, NES does not facilitate the identification or placement of DPPs within practice settings.”

Health Education and Improvement Wales, which is managing the foundation year programme in Wales, did not respond to a request for comment. 

NPA: More transparency needed

Speaking to P3pharmacy, National Pharmacy Association chief executive Henry Gregg said: "DPPs have a huge part to play in the clinical supervision and peer support required for future of community pharmacy, which will be around delivering much better access to routine clinical services for patients. 

"However, a lack of transparency from government and the NHS about the numbers of DPPs working in pharmacies is concerning and something that should be addressed. 

"If we're to meet our full potential, we need more DPPs available to support the development of the community pharmacy workforce and provide more clinical services commissioned by the NHS in community pharmacy.

"Pharmacies can play a much greater role improving accessibility of NHS clinical services for their local communities. The NHS 10 year plan represents a golden opportunity to shift appropriate care into pharmacies, so patients can access NHS services on their doorsteps."