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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e-course

Orientation to hospital pharmacy


  • Released: 03/2021
  • Reviewed: 05/2024
  • Start date: Anytime

The aim of this e-course is to support pharmacy professionals who are starting work in hospital pharmacy practice for the first time, to identify their learning needs and to ensure they have what they need to feel confident and capable starting work.

This learning programme has been developed in collaboration with Health Education England London and South East Pharmacy for pharmacy professionals new to the hospital sector.

Learning outcomes

Once you have identified your own personal learning needs, the different topic areas in this programme will support you to:

  • outline current legislation, to help you recognise and maintain good professional standards
  • describe the importance of patient safety and know how to apply policies and procedures to support this in practice
  • describe the roles and responsibilities of each member of the pharmacy and multi-disciplinary team you will be working with in the hospital setting
  • explain the patient pathway in hospital and across primary and secondary care and describe the role pharmacy plays in supporting transfer of care
  • explain the digital technology and hospital systems that you will be required to use in your practice
  • describe the pharmacy services available in supporting patient-care delivery in the hospital
  • develop your consultation and communication skills to ensure person-centred care and effective communication with the wider healthcare team
  • identify gaps in clinical knowledge and know where to locate appropriate resources to address them
  • recognise the support available to you in the workplace and the opportunities available for future career progression.

How to use this programme

We run our e-courses online in Canvas. After booking, if you have not used Canvas before you will be registered by CPPE and informed of your login details. This e-course is self-directed. This means that you can work through the course at a time and pace that suits you. In Canvas there will be a menu on the left for navigating through each area, so that you can access each unit and its content separately.

Learning intended for

  • Pharmacists
  • Pharmacy technicians
  • Trainee pharmacists