The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7242 p424
29 March 2003

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NHS Education for Scotland (NES) (www.nes.scot.nhs.uk)

Prescribing training moves closer for pharmacists in Scotland

Funding for supplementary prescribing training has been agreed in Scotland. It has also been announced that the two Scottish schools of pharmacy have been commissioned to provide training.

The Scottish Executive says that the direct cost of training pharmacists to become supplementary prescribers — the course fees, expected to be about £1,000 per student — will be met centrally. Funds will be allocated to NHS Education for Scotland (NES).

According to the Scottish Executive: "In the first instance, it is likely that Robert Gordon University will take the lead in developing this work because they already offer a postgraduate course in prescribing sciences."

NES adds that the university is expected to enroll around 40 pharmacists once the course has been accredited by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

After accreditation, the next step will be to identify pharmacists to undertake the training and it will be up to NHS boards and trusts to select the candidates.

However, NES has outlined some selection criteria. Many pharmacists in each board area are likely to meet the criteria so, for the first cohort, places have been allocated according to the population in each board area.

Bill Scott, Scotland's chief pharmaceutical officer, commented: "It will be important to ensure that candidates are sought from all branches of pharmacy and reflect the different areas of practice and numbers of pharmacist practitioners working in NHS Scotland."

Frank Owens, chairman of the Scottish Pharmaceutical General Council, said that the vast majority of places will be offered to community pharmacists. "Places on the courses are likely to be substantially oversubscribed," he said. Mr Owens suggested that pharmacists who wish to be considered for a place should contact their trust chief pharmacist as soon as possible. "I urge pharmacists to take part in this initiative," he added.

Meanwhile in England, the higher education institutes that will provide training have not yet been finalised. An announcement is not expected until after the Royal Pharmaceutical Society accredits training courses.