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More than 80% of foundation trainee pharmacists who needed a designated prescribing practitioner (DPPs) for the 2025/2026 training year had found one by February 2026, according to pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock.
In a written answer to a parliamentary question, published on 24 February 2026, Kinnock said: “Of the 2,894 graduates in England who began foundation pharmacist training in 2025/2026, 2,417 trained against the [General Pharmaceutical Council’s revised 2021 standards for the initial education and training of pharmacists] and therefore require a DPP.”
Training against these standards means students must complete 90 hours of supervised practice specifically related to prescribing so that they can be qualified independent prescribers at the point of registration.
Of those, Kinnock said more than three-quarters (83%, n=2,013) had submitted details of an assigned DPP to NHS England by February 2026.
He shared the figures as part of his response to a written question from Helen Morgan MP, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for health and social care, who had asked, “How many and what proportion of foundation pharmacists beginning their training in 2025 had been assigned a DPP?”.
In June 2025, Morgan had asked how many foundation pharmacist training places had a named DPP, to which health minister Karin Smyth responded that NHS England was “currently in the process of contacting training sites and requesting details”.
Smith also replied that “NHS England requires that DPP information is submitted within 13 weeks of the trainee pharmacist starting in post”.
All trainees must have a DPP to supervise them during their prescribing training; however, there had been concerns that there would not be enough pharmacist trained as DPPs to ensure every trainee can access a supervisor for their training.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s response to the government’s call for evidence on the NHS ten-year workforce plan, published in November 2025, said there was a need to scale up funded DPP capacity.
While any progress in matching trainee pharmacists with designated prescribing practitioners was “welcome” according to Jay Badenhorst, director of pharmacy at the Pharmacists’ Defence Association, he said that “an 83% completion rate is simply not good enough” and “all trainee pharmacists must have a guaranteed route to practice and to qualifying as independent prescribers”.
“Our own survey and engagement with members consistently show that access to DPPs remains a major barrier to trainees progressing to independent prescribing, despite years of warning that demand would rise sharply under the new MPharm standards,” he added.
“It is not acceptable that trainee pharmacists are unable to secure a DPP in the geographical area where they live or wish to work, with some being displaced across borders or even between nations to complete their training.”
Calling for urgent national action, Badenhorst continued: “The increasing commercialisation of the DPP system is creating inequality, regional variation and a postcode‑lottery approach to access, which undermines fairness and workforce planning. Allowing nearly one in five trainees to be left without a confirmed DPP at this stage risks letting down both future pharmacists and patients.
“83% is not success, it represents a system that is still failing too many trainees and urgently needs coordinated national action, proper discussion with the PDA, appropriate funding and equitable access to DPP support.”
Reena Barai, community pharmacy contractor and DPP at SG Barai Pharmacy in Sutton, Surrey, commented: “As always, pharmacy comes up with a solution, despite shortages of DPPs.”
Barai also said that she would expect that many DPPs are supervising multiple trainees, adding “to get to 100% availability of DPPs, the profession needs to consider protected learning time for those wishing to become a DPP and work-placed support to take on this role”.
