NEL Non-Medical Prescribing Programme – 2025 Cohort
Register Your Interest Now! – Deadline 3rd January 2025
This programme, funded by NHSE and collaboratively managed by NEL Training Hub and NEL ICB, aims to support 47 General Practice Nurses and Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) eligible to prescribe as part of the Non-Medical Prescribing Training Programme.
Our aim is to support one staff member from every PCN in NEL.
If you are interested in applying for this fully funded Non-Medical Prescribing Programme, please read the details carefully and register your interest using the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NELTHNMP25
Non-Medical Prescribing (NMP) is increasingly important in primary care due to growing patient demand, workforce shortages, and the need for flexible, efficient care pathways. By enabling trained healthcare professionals such as primary care nurses, and Allied Health Professionals e.g. Physios, Paramedics and Podiatrists to prescribe medications within their scope of practice, NMP enhances patient access to timely treatment, improves continuity of care, and alleviates pressure on GPs. This clinical skill is especially useful for managing chronic conditions, acute minor illnesses, and medication adjustments, reducing delays in treatment and fostering more responsive healthcare. Qualified NMPs undergo a specialist programme of training, equipping them with the competencies needed to make independent prescribing decisions that enhance patient outcomes.
There is always a high level of interest for this training and as such:
- We will collate your interests through the expression of interest form above;
- We will confirm the outcome of your submission;
- If you are successful in being offered a place on the NMP training programme, you will be notified then need to apply to a University of East London directly;
- The University will go through their own entry requirements with you and if you are successful, they will confirm your place in the programme;
- Once your place is confirmed, NEL Training Hub will pay the University of East London the course fee.
Course Information
(Please read before applying)
- Only General Practice Nurses and Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) working in NEL Primary Care will be accepted to the programme.
- For clarity, Pharmacists (A separate funding stream is available to support the development of this group) and those on funded pathways such as the Advanced Clinical Practitioner programmes which already have non-medical prescribing included in the pathway, will not be accepted.
- The course has been validated by the NMC and HCPC at level 7 (masters level) and prepares you for safe and effective prescribing practice within your competency/scope of practice and professional bodies’ authorisation and employer’s consent.
- During the course, you will be introduced to the general principles of pharmacology relevant to prescribing practice, the professional, legal, and ethical frameworks relevant to Independent and Supplementary prescribing, as well as the clinical governance/quality assurance aspects of prescribing.
- The course is divided equally between theory and practice. General pharmacological principles will be taught in a class-based situation, you will then relate these to your own practice within the workplace.
- The course is delivered over 2 twelve-week terms. In term 1 you will attend university for one afternoon per week. During term 1 you will be required to submit formative assignments for which you will receive feedback and feedforward. There is a numeracy and pharmacology exam at the end of term 1 for which the pass mark is 100% and 80% respectively.
- From week 8 in term 1 you will start to work on your portfolio. In this portfolio you will, over the remainder of the course, provide evidence of completing a minimum of 90 hours of supervision in practice and your prescribing competency in line with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society During this supervision time you will have the opportunity to observe a variety of prescribing decisions, supported by practice supervisors, and your Dedicated Prescribing Practitioner (who must be an independent prescriber, but does not need to be a doctor).
- You will write a drug formulary of 5 medications within your scope of practice that you will prescribe once you are registered with your governing body as an Independent or Supplementary Prescriber. This is added to your portfolio.
- The focus of term 2 is clinical supervision. However, you will attend university twice, where the focus will be on the two 2500-word case studies that you are required to submit at the end of the term, along with your portfolio. Support for the case studies will be provided on an individual or small group bases on-line or face-to-face depending on your needs. The pass mark for the case studies is 50%.
- This level 7 course is demanding, and requires you to study in your own time.