A Blog from Aneta Paluch, Well Pharmacy – Independent Prescribing

At CPWY, we’re running a series of updates over the coming weeks to support anyone who is thinking about starting their own IP journey. Whether you’re already preparing your application, still weighing up your options, or simply curious about what the training involves, we want to help you feel informed, supported, and confident.

See the document here which details the steps to take if this is something you are interested in.

Have a read of Aneta Paluch’s brilliant blog below, where she reflects on her Independent Prescribing journey and shares honest insights, challenges and practical tips for others thinking about IP.

Why I Decided to Train as an Independent Prescriber

For the first time in years, I feel that community pharmacy is being recognised as part of the multidisciplinary team. From my perspective, community pharmacists are often underestimated because role is viewed as a basic service rather than what we can truly offer. NHS England’s investment in Independent Prescribing is really important for me because it recognises pharmacists as clinicians who have the skills to take a direct role in managing patient care and making clinical decisions.

We proved, through services such as Pharmacy First, how community pharmacists can contribute to patient care on a daily basis. We have already demonstrated our ability to help reduce pressure on general practice, and we are showing we can complete episodes of care safely and effectively. The Independent Prescribing Pathfinder has taken this one step further giving, pharmacists like me, the chance to use advanced clinical skills to directly and meaningfully support patients.

At a time when the NHS is under immense pressure, I feel strongly that the profession has an important role to play in patient care. With the ambitions set out in the 10‑Year Plan to move care into primary care and community settings, it feels essential that the skills of pharmacists are fully recognised and fully utilised. I strongly believe we are ready for that responsibility and feel proud to be a part of profession that can make such a valuable difference to patients and the wider NHS.

Choosing and Applying for an IP Course – Practical Tips

For anyone considering the IP route, my first advice is to choose a course that fits your learning style. I feel like a mix of face‑to‑face teaching and remote learning was easier to balance alongside work and family responsibilities.

The NHS England approved course provider list is a good starting point, as it sets out all funded options clearly. Once accepted, learners should be aware that the course requires 90 hours of supervised practice, usually completed over around six months.

The structure of supervision can vary depending on the provider and local arrangements:

• Single Supervisor (1:1 DPP) – one designated prescriber supervises the full 90 hours.
• Shared Supervision Model – supervision is shared between a named DPP and other qualified clinicians (often on a sliding scale of 10–90 hours).
• Staggered Supervision – different supervisors support learners across different settings or scopes of practice.

Each model can work well – the key is early planning and open conversations with potential supervisors.

Finding a DPP – Challenges and What Helped Me

One of the biggest barriers for pharmacists is finding a Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP). This can feel challenging, particularly in community pharmacy where commissioned prescribing services may not yet be fully embedded.

What helped me was:

• Starting conversations early with local GP practices and stakeholders.
• Clearly explaining what the course involves and how supervision can be shared.
• Emphasising the mutual benefit to patients, practices, and the wider system.

Some areas also have local NHS or ICB schemes to support DPP placement or subsidise supervision, which are worth exploring.

Through the Pathfinder, I was able to strengthen relationships with GPs, the ICB, and other local pharmacists. It proved that collaboration and GP support can benefit everyone, but most importantly, patients.

What It Was Like to Do the Course

Returning to formal study after time in practice was a bit overwhelming at first. I was able to accommodate learning with my line manager’s support. The company offered to support me with study days as well as my DPP time.

Nowadays many pharmacists, have strong consultation and clinical assessment skills from services such as Pharmacy First and weight management, but the IP course challenges you to apply these skills at a deeper level.

The supervised practice hours were invaluable. They exposed me to different clinical approaches and decision‑making styles and really helped build confidence. This was a shift from being the professional who fulfils a prescription to one who makes independent clinical decisions – a significant but empowering transition.

Keeping a portfolio of evidence throughout the course made the final assessment much more manageable, and I would strongly recommend this to future learners.

Prescribing Through the IP Pathfinder – The Impact

The IP Pathfinder has been an incredible journey. It has:

• Increased my job satisfaction.
• Built my confidence as a clinician.
• Demonstrated the significant contribution community pharmacists can make to patient care.

It reinforced the importance of collaboration, adaptability, and truly patient‑centred care in everyday practice. Having access to a support network, including GPs and fellow Pathfinder pharmacists, was crucial, especially in the early stages.

It was scary at the beginning, but no more so than checking your first prescription, administering your first vaccine, or running your first patient consultation. We all grew through the service. With newly qualified pharmacists now training as prescribers, a commissioned prescribing service is vital to pharmacy.

The success of prescribing models in Wales and Scotland clearly shows what is possible. Community pharmacist prescribers there are improving patient access, freeing up GP time for complex cases, and reducing pressure on secondary care.

If England is to replicate this success, pharmacists must be enabled not only to train as prescribers, but to actively prescribe within commissioned services. This would significantly ease the current DPP capacity challenge, as more pharmacists would be qualified and eligible to supervise future learners.

Looking Ahead – The Future of Community Pharmacy

In the meantime, at Well Pharmacy, we have introduced private IP consultations to ensure our pharmacists can maintain and develop prescribing competence while supporting patients with more complex needs.

Alongside this, we are developing Well Academy, our learning and development framework designed to strengthen clinical excellence, professional confidence, and expertise across our pharmacy teams. We are supporting our pharmacists with learning modules, led by expert clinicians, to help them on their IP journey We have received very positive feedback from pharmacists who have attended these sessions.

Community pharmacists are qualified, accessible clinicians who are ready to support the patient journey. With the right funding, commissioning, and policy support, community pharmacy can be a cornerstone of NHS transformation.