News

We call for increase in pharmacist independent prescribers

We have made three core recommendations to support the increased use of pharmacist independent prescribers (PIPs) over the next decade.

As medication regimes become more specialised and complex, the role of PIPs has become increasingly important in the delivery of high-quality clinical care. We want to see greater use of PIPs within the multi-disciplinary team to expand patient access to care, create capacity in the health care system and improve individual health outcomes.

Our new recommendations urge governments and healthcare organisations to act to:

  • Establish the right infrastructure, systems and tools to enable patients to benefit from PIPs as part of routine care 
  • Develop the highly trained PIP workforce required to work routinely as part of multi-professional teams in all health care settings
  • Provide ongoing professional development for PIPs as well as expanding their role in teaching and peer support.

Elen Jones, RPS Director for Wales said:

“We're committed to highlighting best practice to help our members develop their prescribing skills.

“Non-medical prescribing was introduced in the UK some 30 years ago, but many pharmacists who trained as prescribers have been unable to use their qualification because opportunities to do so aren’t available.

“During the pandemic, there has been much innovative service design and we want to see healthcare systems build on this and review their service configurations to include PIPs to make the most of their professional skills.

“It’s vital that more patient-facing pharmacists have the opportunity to become prescribers too so that patients can get the care they need from a medicines expert, whether that’s in a specialist clinic in secondary care, in their local community pharmacy or even in their own home.”

Read the full recommendations on pharmacist independent prescribers.

Take a look at our resources to help independent prescribers.

We are updating our Competency framework for all prescribers, and consulting on proposed changes to the framework until 7th May.

Our next PIP event centred on prescribing for people with long-term conditions for members only is on the 18th of May.

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