The Pharmaceutical Journal
The pharmacy profession is undergoing a significant period of change. Preparations are being made for a future where pharmacists are able to prescribe at the point of registration, with the existing workforce assuming expanded clinical roles within the multidisciplinary team. To support this transition, The Pharmaceutical Journal has developed a new collection of learning resources that promote and support pharmacists to develop the core skills and competencies required to independently prescribe medicines.
The collection has been informed by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s ‘Competency Framework for All Prescribers‘. Each article begins with a list of the relevant competencies addressed within the piece, making it easy for readers to record their progress as part of their continuing professional development (CPD) or revalidation, or for other accreditation purposes.
Throughout 2024, the collection will continue to be expanded to cover the full range of prescribing competencies defined within the framework, functioning as a comprehensive resource covering the entire prescribing process.
Similar to other CPD and Learning resources produced by The Pharmaceutical Journal, the content is evidence based, expert authored and fully contextualised for pharmacist prescribing. Emphasis has been placed on the development of communication skills, clinical decision making and diagnostic reasoning, with themes of person-centred care, evidence-based practice and patient empowerment through shared-decision making adopted across the collection.
We have also designed a new article template, which utilises a range of active learning features, encouraging reflection and application of theory to practice, with interactive and multimedia elements helping to make learning more visual and dynamic.
To support self-directed study, links are regularly made to complementary resources from across The Pharmaceutical Journal library, with further reading identified for readers looking to explore topics in greater depth. Each article ends with a short quiz to consolidate learning.
Seven articles have been published since September 2023, covering the following topics:
- ‘Principles of person-centred practice for prescribing‘;
- ‘Factors influencing effective communication when prescribing‘;
- ‘Communication techniques for prescribing‘;
- ‘Test yourself: communication and person-centred practice for prescribing‘;
- ‘Introduction to the prescribing consultation‘;
- ‘Principles of effective history taking when prescribing‘;
- ‘Introduction to clinical assessment for prescribers‘.
The new ‘Prescribing’ hub page will continue to evolve as new content is published in 2024 and we bring together related content from The Pharmaceutical Journal catalogue relevant to prescribing, so please do bookmark and revisit the page regularly.
We have also added ‘independent prescribing’ to the list of interests within the ‘Preference centre’ in the ‘My account’ section for users logged into The Pharmaceutical Journal website, and would encourage you to select this so we can keep you up to date with the latest content.
The prescribing collection aims to be a dynamic resource that can adapt to fit the learning needs of all prescribing pharmacists, so please do contact us with any ideas or suggestions for topics that you would like to see included or ideas for resources you would find useful.
Box: Resources and support from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
If you are interested in becoming a prescriber, need advice on how to find a designated prescribing practitioner or are currently working as a prescriber and looking to expand your scope of practice, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has produced a range of resources to help you practice safely and confidently.
Members of the RPS can access these materials from the dedicated prescribing pages on the Society’s website.
