As part of its long term plan the NHS has been developing clinical pathways that widen the remit of pharmacists, which in turn have a major positive impact on patient care - from diagnosis to prescribing. Part of this initiative involves broadening pharmacists' skills through training to become Independent Prescribers, and Health Education England (HEE) have extended funded training offers until March 2024.

At Leicester, the School of Healthcare’s accessible Pharmacist Independent Prescribing course is designed to support the pharmacy integration programme and enables pharmacists to become confident and knowledgeable non-medical prescribers. In fact, it is considered such an important part of the modern pharmacist's role that, as of 2026, all pharmacy graduates will be independent prescribers.

This programme comprises one 30 credit module. It’s designed to provide pharmacists with the knowledge and skills to prescribe within their chosen scope of practice. Upon successful completion, you will be awarded a Practice Certificate in Independent Prescribing and be eligible for annotation on the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) register as an independent prescriber.

Even though the course caters for and supports a wide variety of scopes of practice, we offer specific training on ENT examinations which provides trainees with these additional skills as a prescriber.

This programme is ideal if you have work and personal commitments. It has a flexible format and is delivered using predominantly distance learning approaches, which means it is open to registered pharmacists from across England. The course comprises five virtual, interactive facilitated teaching sessions, and two face-to-face sessions delivered over a range of dates in locations across England. The course is entirely portfolio based with no OSCE style assessments.