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.

Consultation skills

As a pharmacy professional you have a responsibility to meet the GPhC Standards for pharmacy professionals and demonstrate person-centred care.  Every time you speak with a patient you have the opportunity to make a difference.

Health Education England identified developing the consultation skills of the pharmacy profession as a priority which has led to the development of the national Consultation skills for pharmacy practice (CSfPP) programme. This is the home of the National Practice Standards for Pharmacy Consultations which highlight the knowledge, skills and behaviours expected of all pharmacy professionals in a patient-facing role.

The learning and assessment portfolio from the CSfPP programme is available on the CPPE website.

If you are just starting out on your consultation skills journey then take a look at the e-learning programme Consultation skills: what good practice looks like.  This video based programme gives you the opportunity to watch some of the experts in action and work through activities to help you reflect on your own practice and apply new behaviours. It will also help you prepare to complete the Consultation skills for pharmacy practice assessment.

Building on this video based learning approach we have two further e-learning programmes.  The Anticoagulation: what a good consultation looks like programme looks at the therapeutics of anticoagulant medicines and how to apply this in consultation using a person-centred approach. We have also developed a Clinical history-taking: what a good consultation looks like e-learning programme to support those using more advanced examination skills or prescribing.

Our distance learning programme Consultation skills for pharmacy practice: taking a patient-centred approach helps you develop the key communication and consultation skills required to conduct person-centred care.

Take a look at our wide portfolio which includes programmes to support more advanced skills such as Consulting with children and young people and Consulting with people with mental health problems.

You can access additional learning resources to develop your consultations skills and person-centred practice via our Consultation skills (foundation) Consultation skills (advanced), and Culturally competent person-centre care gateway pages.