To all Independent Prescribers – have you considered becoming a supervisor for future prescribers?
There is funding available for training and peer support. Please see further details and information below.
Primary Care is facing a critical shortage of independent prescribers to act as supervisors for future trainee prescribers.
Due to changes in the initial education and training of pharmacists, from September 2025 all pharmacy graduates will require a prescribing supervisor (this role is referred to as a Designated Prescribing Practitioner, or DPP) for their foundation training year before they register as qualified pharmacists. Currently we do not have enough supervisors across all sectors in South Yorkshire, some surveys show up to 50% of training places do not have a DPP with particular difficulties in community pharmacy, and we risk trainees going elsewhere and training places remaining unfilled. The impact of this on our future workforce will be felt more strongly in South Yorkshire with vacancy rates already as high as 40% in some sectors. We therefore need to take action to support future pharmacist trainees and prescribing trainees from all professions across South Yorkshire – can you help?
Funding is available (£600 recognition payment on completion of training, engagement in community of practice, and committing to act as DPP in next 3 years) for 30 supervisors across South Yorkshire to complete DPP training and access peer support to upskill and empower you to act as future supervisors. Depending on level of interest an expressions of interest process may be necessary as there are only 30 funded places available.
While there is currently no national funding for supervisors’ time in practice, many organisations including community pharmacies are willing to offer funding for the time of the supervisor, and arrangements can and have been made locally, with the average payment around £1500. We can put you in touch with interested organisations who require supervisors for their prospective trainees.
A dashboard of all non-medical prescribers in South Yorkshire is under development to understand where our prescribers are, and match trainees with a supervisor. Whether you feel ready to act as a supervisor or not, please take a moment to complete the following form below.
You would need the support of your employer to act as a DPP, please consider this and discuss with them as necessary.
