Supervising pharmacist trainees

From this autumn, pharmacist trainees in all sectors will start their foundation year ready to build on the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed by prescribers that they gained during their MPharm programme.

In their foundation training year, they will need to demonstrate the capabilities of a pharmacist independent prescriber and be signed off in September 2026.

Community pharmacists who are designated supervisors (formerly pre-registration tutors) for foundation year trainee pharmacists (formerly pre-reg pharmacists) will notice differences in their knowledge and skills. For example, trainees will have learned clinical reasoning skills.

Trainee pharmacists will need a DPP, and this might be a community pharmacist independent prescriber or another experienced professional.

Designated supervisors who are already independent prescribers will need to undergo additional training in order to be able to effectively support and assess trainees in prescribing, including understanding the new learning outcomes and assessment strategies.

The NHS will provide funded training courses and resources to help supervisors adapt. Trainee pharmacists will rotate between different sectors, including community pharmacies, hospitals and GP practices.

Supervisors in community pharmacies will need to collaborate with other healthcare settings in order to provide a comprehensive training experience.

With all pharmacy graduates needing to have supervised practice to become independent prescribers in their 2025-2026 foundation year, there will be a significant increase in demand for DPPs. The NHS is building capacity by offering training to future DPPs.

DPPs will provide support and training to trainees to ensure they become competent prescribers, including guidance on clinical decision-making, patient assessment and prescribing practices.

A DPP will hold significant professional responsibility for a trainee’s development and prescribing decisions. Efforts are being made to remove barriers that may hold pharmacists back from taking on a DPP role, including workload, recognition and the need for good training and suitable resources.