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.

 Antimicrobial resistance
 Child health
 Consultation skills: face-to-face and remote
 Culturally competent person-centred care
 Education
 Environmental sustainability
 Genomics
 Health and Justice pharmacy (prisons and secure environments)
 Leadership
 Learning disabilities
 Management
 Medication review
 Medicines reconciliation
 Older people
 Patient safety
 Pharmacy technicians
 Prescribing
 Primary care: general practice and care homes
 Repeat dispensing
 Return to practice
 Revalidation
 Safeguarding
 Sepsis
 Summary Care Records
 Transfer of care
 Urgent care

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.

 Acute coronary syndromes
 Anticoagulation
 Atrial fibrillation and arrhythmias
 Biochemistry
 Cancer
 Dementia
 Dermatology
 Diabetes (type 1)
 Diabetes (type 2)
 Epilepsy
 Gastrointestinal
 Glaucoma
 Gout
 Heart failure
 Hypercholesterolaemia
 Hypertension
 Infections
 Liver
 Mental health
 Minor ailments
 Musculoskeletal
 Neurology
 Nutrition, medicines and myths: evolution of pharmacy practice
 Osteoporosis
 Pain
 Palliative care
 Parkinson's disease
 Renal
 Respiratory
 Stable Angina
New
 Stroke and transient ischaemic attack
 Urinary incontinence and retention
 Venous thromboembolism and embolism

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.

 Alcohol
 Contraception
 Emergency hormonal contraception
 Health Checks
 Healthy Living Pharmacies
 Immunisation
 Menopause
 Men's Health
 Oral health
 Sexual health
 Smoking
 Substance misuse
 Weight management
 Women's Health

Learning programmes and assessments

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e-learning

Vascular risk and the NHS health check programme


  • Released: 07/2014
  • Reviewed: 10/2023
  • Study time: 6h:0m
  • Standard price: £15.00
  • NHS England-funded price: £0.00
    •
Related assessments Login to access

The aim of this e-learning programme is to provide you with a better understanding of vascular risk and the NHS health check programme.

It looks at the health policy surrounding the NHS health check programme and how it is commissioned. This learning defines cardiovascular risk and looks at some of the different assessment tools available and how these are used to estimate an individual’s cardiovascular risk.

It looks at the importance of communication with patients about their modifiable risk factors. Information on how to perform the NHS health check has been included and how to embed clinical governance into your NHS health check service.

Learning outcomes

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

  • define the term cardiovascular risk and discuss which vascular diseases are included in the NHS health check programme
  • describe how the NHS health check programme fits into current health policy, how it is commissioned and some of the practical aspects of providing a pharmacy-based service
  • assess an individual’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) using appropriate evidence-based tools
  • explain management options for modifiable risk factors following an NHS health check
  • manage patients identified as having low, medium or high risk
  • identify situations where referral to another practitioner is appropriate following the NHS health check
  • develop strategies for communicating with patients who are at risk of CVD.

How to use this programme

You can access this e-learning programme using a web browser on any device. You will need to be connected to the internet while you work through it.

Learning intended for

  • Pharmacists
  • Pharmacy technicians
  • Trainee pharmacists
  • CPPE registrants