NHS priorities

Whether it’s to prepare for the next Pharmacy Quality Scheme deadline, or to increase your confidence in helping people with a learning disability, this section provides topic-specific pages that link to current NHS priorities. This section will support you in keeping your knowledge and skills up to date in order to provide high-quality pharmacy services and be service-ready.

Clinical pharmacy

Our clinical portfolio is expanding on a frequent basis, helping you to advance your knowledge and skills and deliver medicines optimisation in practice for all sectors of pharmacy. From two new focal points a year to our small group learning for hospital pharmacists – Optimise – this section focuses on clinical pharmacy, diseases and therapeutics.

Public health

The public health agenda is embedded in pharmacy, yet topics such as emergency contraception or stop smoking support are as prevalent as ever. As well as our public health workshops, use this section to access a wide range of resources to assure and maintain your competence, all underpinned by the Declaration of Competence system.

Care homes

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There were an estimated 426,000 people living in residential care homes in the UK in 2014 according to Age UK and with the population living longer this number is set to rise. Working in a care home setting provides a unique opportunity to support the health and care needs of the most vulnerable people in society. However, it is crucial for professionals to respect the setting. Care homes are people’s homes. Where possible pharmacy professionals should support residents in Care Homes, take an active role in decisions about their treatment, and to self-administer their medicines as if they were in their own private home There are many ways in which pharmacy professionals can support residents in care homes including medicines reviews, training and support for care homes staff, help the team meet quality standards, working within a multidisciplinary team to provide safe, effective and appropriate care to residents living in care homes.

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The aim of this workshop is to support clinical pharmacy professionals working in primary care to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence that are needed to implement strategies to optimise medicines use for people living in care homes.


2h:30m (for events this includes pre and post event learning)


Learning Outcomes:

On completion of all aspects of this learning programme you should be able to:
  • work with local health and social care providers to improve outcomes for older people living in care homes
  • prioritise care homes residents for structured medication review
  • undertake person-centred structured medication reviews
  • advise on the appropriateness of low-dose antipsychotics for people with dementia
  • assess the safety and clinical appropriateness of medicines in frail older people
  • deal appropriately with a request to crush tablets in those with swallowing difficulties.
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This learning programme aims to enable you to interpret and apply clinical guidance to support people living with COPD. You will consider how to optimise their treatment and use a person-centred approach to empower people living with COPD to self-manage their condition.


5h:30m (for events this includes pre and post event learning)


Learning Outcomes:

On completion of all aspects of this learning programme you should be able to:

  • identify red flag signs and symptoms presenting in people living with COPD, who may require referral to another healthcare professional
  • create a list of local resources to enable you to support and signpost people living with COPD
  • discuss the options for the management of breathlessness and anxiety for people living with more advanced disease
  • interpret clinical guidance and apply it in practice to support the optimisation of therapy for people living with COPD
  • support people to self-manage their COPD while demonstrating a person-centred approach.
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The aim of this workshop is to increase your understanding of falls and how the pharmacy team can help prevent and support those who have had a fall.


3h:15m (for events this includes pre and post event learning)


Learning Outcomes:

On completion of all aspects of this learning programme you should be able to:
  • describe the role of pharmacy professionals in prevention of falls
  • identify the factors that contribute to the increased risk of falls
  • identify people at risk of falls and provide solutions to reduce this risk through lifestyle and medicine interventions
  • provide educational advice on promoting good bone health and medicines for osteoporosis
  • explain how you can utilise your knowledge in falls prevention to better support your patients.
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The aim of this e-workshop is to develop your knowledge and skills to help you manage and optimise care for patients who might lack mental capacity to make a specific decision relating to their medicines at a given point in time.

#CPPEmentalhealth


6h:15m (for events this includes pre and post event learning)


Learning Outcomes:

On completion of all aspects of this learning programme you should be able to:
  • summarise the legal framework and professional standards surrounding the Mental Capacity Act 2005
  • describe the important role of pharmacy professionals within the multidisciplinary team in ensuring the appropriate application and ongoing assessment of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its purpose in the use of medicines
  • identify situations in which pharmacy professionals might encounter issues concerning mental capacity during their practice, including appropriate use of covert administration of medicines and what issues to consider when making recommendations
  • identify suitable sources of information for understanding the assessment and ongoing management of mental capacity and covert administration of medicines
  • develop a working knowledge of the content and purpose of policies and procedures which relate to the management of medicines for patients suspected of lacking mental capacity
  • recognise the situations which require referrals to other healthcare professionals.
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PLEASE NOTE: You will not be able to book onto this event if you have previously attended the Mental Health and wellbeing in primary care study day or the Mental health and wellbeing in primary care online workshops A and B.

This online workshop focuses on common mental health conditions seen in primary care. It will enable you to support patients with a mental health condition to optimise their medicines. It will combine principles of team-based learning (TBL) to facilitate networking and discussion whilst consolidating the underpinning knowledge about antidepressants, benzodiazepines and z-hypnotics. Teams will work through simple and more complex case studies to apply knowledge and share best practice.

This programme has been developed by University of East Anglia (UEA) who own the intellectual property and copyright.


10h:00m (for events this includes pre and post event learning)


Learning Outcomes:

On completion of all aspects of this learning programme you should be able to:
  • explain how mental health conditions can impact on patients and their carers and the key priorities for maintaining good mental health
  • outline drug and non-drug management for depression
  • apply national guidelines, referral criteria and evidence-informed decision-making on depression to patient care in general practice
  • develop a plan to improve safety and quality for benzodiazepine and z-drugs prescribing in general practice
  • identify strategies for supporting patients to reduce or stop benzodiazepines and z-drugs.
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Care homes: supporting people, optimising medicines

This resource is not currently available to you, click for more information.

We are currently updating this programme. If you haven't started working through this programme, we recommend you wait until it has been updated. If you have already started working through this programme and find links to external webpages or documents that are broken, please go to the organisation's homepage or your preferred search engine and use appropriate key words to search the releavant item. The updated e-learning programme will be available early March 2024.

The aim of this learning programme is to update your knowledge about working with care homes, the roles and responsibilities of the teams involved and the legal issues, guidance and regulations surrounding medicines in care homes. Through practice-based activities the programme supports you to use that knowledge in care homes and help residents make the most out of their medicines.


4h:00m (for events this includes pre and post event learning)


Learning Outcomes:

On completion of all aspects of this learning programme you should be able to:

  • present an overview of social and healthcare teams involved in care homes, including specific details for your local area
  • recognise the responsibilities of the pharmacy team within care homes
  • demonstrate an understanding of the policies, processes and legislation relating to care homes by creating a plan to apply in your practice
  • describe safe and effective processes for the management of medicines in care homes and understand how these processes link to community pharmacies and general practices
  • identify the steps and people involved in the medicines review process in care homes, and how this supports medicines optimisation
  • explain the roles of the people involved in the care of residents and the management of their medicines in a care home and describe how the pharmacy team can communicate effectively with them to reduce medicines-related problems.
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Pharmacy professionals, as an integral part of the NHS Long Term Plan, are now routinely working in GP practices, care homes, secondary care, community and commissioning within a multi-disciplinary team. This growing infrastructure demands the need for effective communication between healthcare professionals working in different sectors. This programme will support you with documenting in patient clinical records to enable continuity of patient care in integrated local services.


6h:00m (for events this includes pre and post event learning)


Learning Outcomes:

On completion of all aspects of this learning programme you should be able to:
  • summarise the legal and regulatory requirements for patient clinical records
  • describe the information required for clear, concise and appropriate patient clinical records
  • recognise the required structure expected when writing in patient clinical records
  • document details of patient consultations and clinical interventions concisely and accurately in patient clinical records.
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This learning will support you to adopt a person-centred approach to involving people with dementia in consultations and decisions about their treatment and health.


4h:00m (for events this includes pre and post event learning)


Learning Outcomes:

On completion of all aspects of this learning programme you should be able to:
  • discuss the importance and benefits of involving people with dementia in consultations and decisions about their treatment and health
  • describe the skills and techniques needed to engage and communicate effectively with people with dementia
  • identify some key national practice standards most applicable to pharmacy consultations with people with dementia
  • recognise and address the challenges of a three-way consultation
  • apply the knowledge, behaviours and person-centred skills needed to maximise the effectiveness of your consultations with people with dementia.
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Consulting with people with mental health problems

This resource is not currently available to you, click for more information.

In this programme you will consider what is different about consulting with people with mental health problems. You will also recognise the impact of stigma and discrimination experienced by those with mental health problems and how to adapt your consultation style to address their needs and concerns.


3h:00m (for events this includes pre and post event learning)


Learning Outcomes:

After completing this e-learning programme, you should be able to:
  • describe the mental health treatment gap and the importance of parity of esteem (valuing mental health equally with physical health)
  • recognise the impact of stigma and discrimination experienced by those with mental health problems
  • select the key national practice standards most applicable to pharmacy consultations with people with mental health problems
  • reflect on your consultations with people experiencing mental health problems
  • maximise the effectiveness of your consultations in this field by applying person-centred skills and behaviours
  • identify possible risks in your consultations with people with mental health problems.
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This programme aims to help you to develop your knowledge and skills to improve your confidence and competence in working with patients and other health and social care professionals to enable patients to get the best possible outcomes when they are taking multiple medicines.


4h:00m (for events this includes pre and post event learning)


Learning Outcomes:

On completion of all aspects of this learning programme you should be able to:
  • explain the terminology associated with polypharmacy and what it means for patients and the health and social care team
  • list the causes and consequences of polypharmacy in relation to the patient, their carer and the wider NHS
  • identify medicines that cause problems for patients with polypharmacy and triggers that may indicate that polypharmacy is problematic
  • explain the main considerations when stopping a patient's medicines, what barriers might exist and how to overcome these
  • describe how you could use decision-making tools and strategies to support your practice when consulting with patients on multiple medicines
  • explain how you could undertake patient-centred discussions about polypharmacy with patients during a medication review or medicines use review
  • work in partnership with the patient to prioritise interventions and agree referral strategies
  • identify and apply suitable resources and tools to support you in identifying polypharmacy issues and solutions as part of your clinical judgement and experience
  • describe the process of shared decision-making and recognise its value in supporting adherence in patients taking multiple medicines
  • identify a change you could make to your practice to improve your approach to managing polypharmacy.
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This distance learning programme will enable you to support people with a learning disability and their families to manage behaviours that challenge, in line with National Institute of Health and Care Excellence guidance. It will also empower you to adopt a holistic approach to medicines optimisation to help people with a learning disability to be involved in the consultation when they can and to make the most of their medicines.


8h:00m (for events this includes pre and post event learning)


Learning Outcomes:

On completion of all aspects of this learning programme you should be able to:
  • categorise a range of learning disabilities and the differences in capability that can occur in each of these
  • describe key policy drivers that support change in the management of people with a learning disability
  • explain consent to a person with a learning disability and recognise when to involve family members, carers and support workers in the consultation
  • demonstrate patient-centred consultation skills and behaviours to meet the needs of people with a learning disability
  • promote physical health and wellbeing and support patients to manage their concurrent physical health conditions
  • identify people with a learning disability and concurrent mental health disorder and provide them with advice and support
  • support people with a learning disability and their families to manage behaviour that challenges, in line with National Institute of Health and Care Excellence guidance
  • explain the importance of a holistic approach to medicines optimisation as a strategy to help people with a learning disability make the most of their medicines.
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external resource

NICE Social care guideline (SC1) Managing medicines in care homes

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If you are currently, or have been, enrolled on the NHS England funded Clinical Pharmacists in General Practice, Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes or Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathways you should not enrol on this SMR e-course. The reason for this is that the learning on these pathways will already have given you the skills and knowledge you need to provide SMRs under the specification of the Network DES.

Please note, to provide Structured Medication Reviews under the terms of the Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service (DES) "pharmacists must have completed – or at least be enrolled on – the Primary Care Pharmacy Educational Pathway (PCPEP) or a similar training programme that includes independent prescribing" and so participating in this e-course alone will not enable you to comply with this requirement.

The aim of this course is to equip you with the knowledge, skills and behaviours that you need to begin undertaking person-centred structured medication reviews.

Click here for more information on course dates: e-courses : CPPE

This Structured medication review e-course is no longer associated with an e-assessment. The original e-assessment has been withdrawn and we are currently undertaking a review process in order to determine the most suitable approach to support you to evaluate your learning as a result of undertaking the e-course. Please refer back to this page for updates.


48h:00m (for events this includes pre and post event learning)


Learning Outcomes:

On completion of all aspects of this learning programme you should be able to:

  • describe the importance of shared decision making and recognise its value in the structured medication review process
  • identify gaps in the information needed to undertake structured medication review
  • use evidence-based reference sources appropriately to support clinical decision making
  • demonstrate clinical knowledge of the most commonly used medicines in the treatment of long-term conditions
  • develop an appropriate level of clinical judgement and skills to provide prioritised recommendations to a prescriber resulting from a structured medication review.
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This Primary care essentials e-course is a standalone module. However, it also forms part of the Primary care pharmacy education pathway which is the training for pharmacy professionals with roles in primary care networks (PCN). You can access the pathway here.

The aim of this e-course is to introduce the fundamentals of new roles in primary care for those who are not eligible for the Primary care pharmacy education pathway.

This e-course will cover NHS structure and primary care, introduction to local general practice and care homes, medicines optimisation, medication review, prescribing and repeat prescribing, prescribing data, clinical information technology systems, audits, evidence-based use of medicines, working with the multidisciplinary team and person-centred professionalism.

By working through the activities in each unit and focusing on the tasks relating to your role, you will develop knowledge, skills, experience, and behaviours to support you in a role in primary care.

We have structured the programme into ten learning units and we estimate that you will probably need to commit between eight to ten hours of learning per unit to gain maximum benefit from the programme.


70h:00m (for events this includes pre and post event learning)


Learning Outcomes:

On completion of all aspects of this learning programme you should be able to:
  • explain NHS structure and the commissioning landscape in primary care
  • understand the role general practice and care homes play in delivering the public health agenda and signposting to other healthcare providers such as community pharmacy
  • define your PCN patient population and the roles and responsibilities of the wider healthcare team
  • define how pharmacy professionals work in patient-facing roles as part of the PCN
  • identify the features of good-quality prescribing, repeat prescribing and repeat dispensing
  • use prescribing data to identify priorities to improve prescribing and patient care
  • access clinical IT systems to document activities and run searches
  • measure prescribing practice using audits
  • promote medicines optimisation to improve patient outcomes relating to medicines and to reduce waste
  • identify trusted sources of evidence-based information and communicate effectively with the multidisciplinary team
  • identify patients for medication review and support the multidisciplinary team to improve medication reviews
  • develop relationships with the wider multidisciplinary team and promote networking
  • demonstrate person-centred professionalism
  • explain the importance of good quality pharmacy practice research to effective primary care practice.
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This e-assessment is linked with the CPPE Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease focal point programme and assesses you on the learning outcomes within that programme.


Why should I do this assessment?

This e-assessment completes the learning you began with the CPPE Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease focal point programme. Access and successful completion will contribute to your own personal development plan, be recorded in your My CPPE record and will enable you to complete a CPD entry on the learning. It may also provide evidence for achieving competencies in the RPS Foundation or Advanced Pharmacy Frameworks. If you are working towards completing a Declaration of Competence for a pharmacy service, successful completion of this assessment will provide evidence of your learning.
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This e-assessment is linked with the CPPE Falls prevention workshop and assesses you on the learning outcomes within that programme.


Why should I do this assessment?

This e-assessment completes the learning you began with the CPPE Falls prevention workshop. Access and successful completion will contribute to your own personal development plan, be recorded in your My CPPE record and will enable you to complete a CPD entry on the learning. It may also provide evidence for achieving competencies in the RPS Foundation or Advanced Pharmacy Frameworks. If you are working towards completing a Declaration of Competence for a pharmacy service, successful completion of this assessment will provide evidence of your learning.
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external resource

We have a portfolio of clinical fact sheets which includes topics such as pneumonia, UTIs and healthcare associated infections. Each fact sheet should refresh your knowledge of that particular condition and provide you with links to appropriate further resources.

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Care Home Use of Medicines Study (CHUMS): Medication errors in nursing and residential care homes

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How CQC regulates: Residential adult social care services provider handbook, April 2016

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This document highlights the CPPE learning opportunities available to all pharmacy professionals in primary care who are not eligible for one of the extended training pathways.

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external resource

Pharmacists working in care homes: ultimate guide

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