Practice Certificate in Independent Prescribing for Pharmacists – FAQs

Each question on the application form is accompanied by guidance about the purpose of the question and the level of detail required in the answer. There is also guidance regarding the approximate word count for each section. We recommend reading the application form in its entirety prior to answering questions.

Once an application is submitted to pharmacyIPrecruitment@dmu.ac.uk, you will receive an automated message acknowledging receipt. We aim to screen applications within 15 working days, however, at peak application times this may take slightly longer. Applications are scored against an agreed scheme and applications that meet the scoring threshold will be contacted to offer of a place. This may be conditional on receipt of further information, or unconditional. If an application does not meet the threshold, then it will be rejected and returned to the applicant with an explanation and feedback. In most cases we encourage applicants with rejected applications to re-apply, however, the re-submitted application will be treated as a new application.

Our application process is designed to help pharmacists reflect on their future learning journey and role, considering the feasibility of their plans and if this is the right time for them to be studying. From experience, pharmacists who have not fully considered the scope of the learning required for the course find the course more stressful and are more likely to drop out.

A designated prescribing practitioner, or DPP, is a workplace supervisor for pharmacist independent prescribing students. They play an important role in providing training and support to help to develop and assess their student’s prescribing competence and skill in their chosen area of practice throughout their independent prescribing studies and during the student’s ‘Learning in Practice Hours’. Each student will have one stated designated prescribing practitioner.

Historically, pharmacist prescribers in training were supervised and certified as competent by designated medical practitioners, registered with the General Medical Council. This supervisory role has now been extended, such that non-medical prescribers may now also act as DPPs. It is expected that DPPs supervising pharmacist independent prescribers in training will satisfy the following criteria:

• DPPs must be a registered healthcare professional in Great Britain or Northern Ireland and in good standing with their professional regulator.
• DPPs must be registered with their regulator as a legally independent prescriber for at least the last three years, with no significant gaps in practice which would affect this three-year requirement.
• DPPs must have at least three years’ active and recent prescribing practice, patient-facing clinical and diagnostic skill within the student’s chosen therapeutic area/scope of practice, with no significant gaps in practice which would affect this three-year requirement.
• Have the support of the employing organisation(s) or learning in practice setting(s) to act as a DPP who will provide supervision, support and opportunities to develop competence in prescribing practice for the pharmacist prescriber in training.
• Have experience of teaching, supervising and assessing other health care professionals in clinical practice.
• Have adequate indemnity insurance in place for their own professional and supervisory role as a DPP and ensure that all learning in practice settings have adequate indemnity insurance in place.
• DPPs must meets all competencies defined within the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Competency Framework for Designated Prescribing Practitioners.

No. This is because with any practitioner with whom you have a close personal relationship, may not have an objective view of your development. This may influence the feedback which they are providing to you and assessment decisions. The use of a close friend or relative as a DPP is incompatible with our accreditation against the GPhC Standards for the initial education and training of pharmacist independent prescribers. Similarly, during learning in practice hours, students should avoid shadowing or carrying out learning in practice hours with any practitioner with whom they have a close personal relationship as part of the course.

The DPP Handbook provides detailed information about the course for DPPs. We also run regular webinars which your DPP is welcome to attend.

Yes, our course at DMU is accredited to latest GPhC Standards for Initial Education & Training for Independent Prescribers, thus, DPPs for this course can be non-medical prescribers. The requirements of DPPs and selection criteria for DPPs is the same whether your DPP is a medical or non-medical prescriber; please see the DPP handbook for further information related to the selection criteria for DPPs. However, if you are using a non-medical prescriber as a DPP, we recommend that you spend a minimum of 20 hours with a medical prescriber focusing on diagnostic processes relevant to your prescribing practice.

At DMU, we ask that at approximately 45 hours of your learning in practice hours are spent with your DPP, to allow sufficient time for your DPP to help to develop and assess your competence as a prescriber.

No. We are aware that there are organisations who are charging a ‘finders-fee’ for putting pharmacists in contact with a DPP, and that some DPPs are charging directly for access to learning in practice hours. We believe that both of these arrangements are inappropriate and are likely to be problematic for you as a learner. Your DPP is such a vital resource in the success of your IP qualification, and you want your DPP to be objective, supportive and accessible. From experience, with these arrangements, pharmacists are more likely to have poor relationships with their DPPs and may struggle to access the support and guidance required for success on the course.

If you are considering such an arrangement you need to ensure that you have had contact with your DPP prior to starting on the course, that you have satisfied yourself that the DPP understands the requirements of the course, the support that they are required to provide, and that they are fully committed to their role. You should be personally arranging for the paperwork required for your application to be completed and not relying in an intermediary to provide you with the completed paperwork.