Why non-medical prescribing is important to developing the NHS future plan

Guest blogger Richard Lowe, Postgraduate Professional Development Lead for the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care at The Open University, discusses why non-medical prescribing is essential for evolving the UK’s health sector and how The Open University’s new Postgraduate Certificate in Non-Medical Prescribing can increase your employee’s level of care and support to patients.

In a recent and characteristically astute article in C&D week, Hemant Patel (past president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society) eloquently reemphasised the need for independent prescribing pharmacists to be available in community pharmacies.  His article coincided with his response to the consultation “Developing the long-term plan for the NHS.”

Within the overarching strategy for healthcare delivery; increased accessibility, greater cost-effectiveness and patient responsiveness, Mr Patel reiterates the feasibility of the integrated clinical hub-and-spoke solution between GPs and pharmacies.  It’s a radical view espousing the idea that community pharmacies become high-street clinics and thus an integral part of integrated care systems (ICS).

An essential element of supporting such a strategy, indeed a pre-requisite to more effective use of community pharmacies generally, is of course the wider roll-out of non-medical prescribing by pharmacists and AHPs.  This can support ICS redesign, generate greater efficiencies and convenience which centre around patients much more than in traditional service models.

The Open University (OU) fully supports this vision of multidisciplinary healthcare provision focusing on quality and holistic person-orientated care pathways.  To help directly with this shift to develop a better equipped community workforce, and to encourage wider participation, the OU has developed a new non-medical prescribing programme for pharmacists and allied health professionals.  This innovative programme benefits from increased flexibility and fewer mandatory university campus days; the days of turning up every Wednesday for six months are over!

Modern non-medical prescribing programmes are being restructured to capitalise on new innovative delivery systems and an increasingly digitally literate professional workforce.  The OU has developed its course to include: video presentations, research materials, interactive sessions and flipped learning. Flipped learning is where students are introduced to the learning material before a face-to-face session.  This is used to deepen and extend current understanding through discussion with peers and problem-solving activities often using case studies, and allows learners time to consider, research and apply the principles to their own practice.

The teaching and learning elements are presented over an equivalent of 26 days, however, only four of these days are face-to-face on campus.  These allow the hands-on teaching which is so important for consultation technique (including the many aspects which go with this) and clinical skills acquisition.  The development and application of these skills is practice-based to ensure relevance and currency.

To deliver the innovative programme the OU employs the Learning Management System designed and hosted by The Institute of Clinical and Science Technology (ICST), an OU business and development partner.

ICST specialises in medical education and research and has experience in delivering sustainable and scalable programmes to improve the quality of diagnoses and medicines optimisation within NICE guidelines to secure improved patient outcomes. 

Whilst Hemant Patel’s comments are primarily aimed at the Primary Care sector, the OU has also reflected on the demands of practitioners and services within secondary care.  The 60-credit Postgraduate Certificate in Non-Medical Prescribing forms one of the modules within an Advanced Clinical Practice programme.  The four pillars of advanced clinical practice; clinical practice, facilitating learning, leadership, and evidence, research and development, are in evidence throughout the programme.

A time of service change is an exciting opportunity for individual professional development and the extension of non-medical prescribing in particular.  There exist unprecedented demands for organisational renewal and service development, along with calls for increased effectiveness and efficiencies within the NHS – all of which non-medical prescribing can support.  Together we can deliver an equipped professional pharmacy and AHP workforce ready for new proposed models of healthcare delivery.  Let’s move on from inward looking professional debate and instead demonstrate higher levels of competence to move services forwards for patients in new ways.

For further information on the new Open University non-medical prescribing programme click here or alternatively, contact us if you have any questions or further enquiries on how we can support your organisation.