Developing and evaluating pharmacist prescribing supervision for foundation trainee pharmacists in South East London
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46542/pe.2026.261.269280Keywords:
Clinical competence, Decision making, Education, Pharmacy, Prescriber autonomy, Scope of practiceAbstract
Background: In response to the General Pharmaceutical Council's new standards requiring pharmacists to qualify as independent prescribers at registration in the UK, the South East London Prescribing Integration Project aimed to address the resulting challenges in supervision capacity and training design for Foundation Trainee Pharmacists (FTPs).
Methods: A multi-phase programme was co-designed with stakeholders from general practice, hospitals, and community pharmacies. It involved creating a prescribing training workbook for FTPs, a specialised training package for Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP), and a multi-sector pilot, all based on a new autonomy-focused framework. A mixed-methods evaluation was conducted using survey data, learning logs, and progress reviews, although qualitative findings from focus groups are not included in this paper.
Results: Fifty-eight pharmacists attended the DPP training, with 44 participating in the pilot and 42 providing survey data. The training significantly improved DPP preparedness (p < 0.001), and FTPs logged over 860 hours of learning. Six supervision dimensions were established based on responses, emphasising direct supervision, protected learning time, and the integration of training.
Conclusion: The programme provides evidence of the feasibility and potential value of a co-designed model for supervision for foundation-level pharmacists grounded in a collaborative (low autonomy) prescriber endpoint. Findings offer practical insights to inform national implementation and policy development.
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