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.

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online workshop

NHS Pharmacy First: Clinical assessment – essential skills online workshop


  • Released: 01/2024
  • Reviewed: N/A
  • Study time: 17h:0m

The aim of this learning programme is to support pharmacists to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to undertake effective consultations, communications and clinical assessments in order to provide the NHS Pharmacy First service.

If you have previously attended a DMIRS event, an NHS CPCS full study day or an NHS CPCS online workshop then you do not need to attend the NHS Pharmacy First service online workshop. The learning in these workshops is the same.

Learning outcomes

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

  • describe the clinical history taking process
  • apply tools and techniques to demonstrate a structured person-centred approach to clinical history taking
  • apply evidence-based practice and relevant guidance to support clinical reasoning and engage the person in shared decision making, such as NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries
  • identify presenting red flags in the consultation to enable safe, effective, ‘warm’ clinical transfer of the individual
  • demonstrate a safe and effective closure to the consultation including safety netting, signposting and referral when necessary
  • complete an accurate and concise clinical record to support data sharing across healthcare settings and transfer of care.
  • describe a range of clinical examination skills
  • interpret and apply clinical assessment test results and findings to aid clinical diagnosis and decisions
  • practise a person-centred approach to the care of individuals by promoting self-care and prevention measures in the consultation.

How to use this programme

We deliver our online workshops using Zoom. When you book onto this event you will receive a separate email (from the tutor via Zoom) with a unique invitation link. Please do not share the link with others. The email also allows you to add the event (including the invitation link) to your digital calendar of choice. You can also find a copy of the link on your CPPE My bookings page.

Please note

  • You will need to be connected to the internet for the duration of the online workshop.
  • To get the most from this workshop we recommend that you use a laptop or desktop computer.
  • Log into the event in enough time to enable you to resolve any technology issues before the official start. If you join after the official start time, the facilitator may not be able to admit you into the workshop.
  • This is an interactive workshop and you must have your camera on throughout. You will need a microphone available to speak during the event. This is important for building rapport, ensuring engagement and supporting accessibility.
  • Please ensure you are in a quiet room with no distractions.
  • You must not join while travelling.
  • We expect you to prepare for our events by completing all pre-workshop activities. Details of these will be emailed to you by the tutor or can be found on your My bookings page.
  • Please ensure that you can attend for the entire workshop – attendance will only be marked if you attend and participate fully. 

If you can no longer attend or wish to cancel your place on this event, you must do so via your My bookings page. Our cancellation policy will apply to late cancellations, or if you do not cancel and fail to attend the event.

If you have any queries or concerns regarding your participation in the workshop, or have any requirements that we can support you with, please do not hesitate to contact the lead tutor. For more information, read our inclusivity statement.

Watch a video explaining what to expect from our online learning programmes.

Learning intended for

  • Pharmacists
  • Trainee pharmacists