Independent Prescribing for Pharmacists and Nurses

Student Handbook

2021-22

Level 7 / 30 credits

Programme Director: Dianne Bell

 

General Information

Welcome to the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health

Welcome from the Director of Postgraduate Taught Education

I am delighted to welcome you to the School of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health. We are extremely pleased you have chosen the University of Manchester to commence or continue your postgraduate study journey; whether you are progressing straight from your undergraduate studies, seeking to develop your knowledge/skills in your chosen career or are bravely taking a completely different direction in life.

In the pursuit of knowledge, wisdom and humanity, we will place you at the centre of a transformational learning process to support you to achieve your individual goals and aspirations. Our challenge to you is to embrace all of the opportunities available to you; be bold, think differently and realise your potential. We want your postgraduate journey with us to be intellectually stretching, rewarding and fun.

We are aware that most of you will need to juggle a number of competing priorities during your postgraduate taught studies. Some of you will already be in full-time employment, while others will need to secure part-time employment to fund your studies. We know that many of you will have family and caring responsibilities that will have to be prioritised before your own learning. We hope the information detailed in this programme handbook will help you in managing these competing commitments. Whether you are joining us on campus or studying at a distance, you are an integral part of our School and University, and we are here to support you.

We are extremely proud of our postgraduate student community and alumni who are making a difference, both locally and globally. We look forward to working with you, confident that you too will play a role in transforming the lives of people who use health and social care services, whether during your studies or upon graduation.

I wish you every success in your postgraduate studies here at the University of Manchester.

Mr Andrew Mawdsley
Director of Post Graduate Taught Education
School of Health Sciences

Introductory courses

All students are automatically enrolled on an introductory unit that provides information on health and safety, academic malpractice and academic literacy. Completion instructions for each of these sections are clearly defined within the course. Completion of the academic malpractice and health and safety sections is mandatory for all students. All assessments must be completed as soon as possible after the programme begins, with the academic malpractice assessment completed before the first piece of coursework is submitted. Completion of these assessments is monitored by the School. All students are also strongly advised to complete the academic literacy section.

Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health Online Skills Training Resource

The Faculty has developed a skills training resource to support you through your postgraduate taught programme. This online material should supplement the assessed learning material and activities undertaken in your taught programme.

Accessing the online skills resource

You can access Blackboard® through the My Manchester portal (http://my.manchester.ac.uk). The skills training resource is available in an academic community space available to all registered PGT students in the Faculty through Blackboard®. If you cannot see these units in your Blackboard® please contact independent.prescribing@manchester.ac.uk.

Content

Full details of all these resources can be found in the introduction to each unit. These resources have been designed to give you formative feedback on your progress through them. If you experience any problems and would like to talk to someone please contact your Programme Director. If you have questions about referencing and how it applies to your own work, please contact your Programme Director or dissertation supervisor/module lead.

Research Methods*	This course is split into 3 units that cover introductions to study design, statistics and dissertation skills. It has a number of online quizzes where you can test your knowledge.
Statistics*	The course provides a valuable foundation for understanding and interpreting biostatistics. It aims to provide you with the fundamentals of quantitative analysis.
Presentation Skills	This short interactive unit is designed to help you to enhance your presentation skills. Regardless of whether you are presenting in public, preparing for conferences, an oral examination or more informal settings this unit will give you the tops tips to improve your delivery.
Qualitative Research Methods*	This unit has been designed to give you an introduction to Qualitative Research.
Intellectual Property Awareness Resource	This Intellectual Property (IP) awareness resource has been created in order to improve your understanding of IP. Topics include: Types of intellectual property Copyright and IP clearance University policy on IP IP commercialisation IP in research or consultancy IP issues to be aware of when dealing with academic materials

*NOTE: the material in this online resource is for reference and formative learning purposes only. In some of your taught programmes, you may be required to undertake assessed course units for Research Methods, Qualitative Research or Statistics. If your programme involves taught units then you should refer to the Blackboard® material relating to that course unit. Please contact your Programme Administrator if you are unsure which material relates to your assessed work. You will still be able to refer to the online skills resource in later years.

Contacts

Head of Division of Pharmacy and Optometry: Professor Jayne Lawrence

Programme Director (lead for pharmacists), Dianne Bell: dianne.bell@manchester.ac.uk

Deputy Programme Director (lead for NMC registrants), Laura Green: laura.green-3@manchester.ac.uk

Support Staff

Postgraduate Taught Programmes Team: independent.prescribing@manchester.ac.uk

Blackboard® e-Learning Support University of Manchester e-learning team: elearning@manchester.ac.uk

Communications

Good communication between university and student is important for the smooth running of any course, but for a distance/blended learning course, it becomes essential. The following section outlines the different options available and their recommended use.

Student e-mail

As a student of the University of Manchester, you will be given your own student email address during the registration process, which is usually in the format: forename.surname@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

All information and communication to students will only be sent to your student University email address, and any communications with tutors and administrators must be made via your university student email address.

Any emails received from a non-University address will be replied to at the student’s University address. The reason for this is to ensure that students have a fixed email account for the duration of the course and so do not miss out on important pieces of information, which may include group information sent to “all students”.

You can access your University email account using the same details that you use to log in to Blackboard®. To log on to webmail, go to the following address and enter your username and password: https://outlook.manchester.ac.uk/

You can sign up for your central account and obtain your username and password here https://iam.manchester.ac.uk/initial_login/overview and follow the sign-up process.

If you have forgotten your username or password, you can go through the account recovery process here: https://iam.manchester.ac.uk/recovery_login/overview

Announcements in Blackboard®

On the front page of your Blackboard® course, there is a small space for Course Announcements. These will be brief and will usually flag up important longer messages or items of information contained on web pages or in emails.

Internet, telephone and computer messaging

Microsoft Teams and Zoom are particularly important tools while workshops are online. All workshops, meetings and assessments will be remote so you must ensure that you have reliable access to MS Teams and Zoom, including both audio and video.

To make the best use of either platform, we recommend that you invest in a headset and microphone (about £15.00). This is necessary for the OSCE and case presentation assessments, several online workshops and can be particularly useful for supervision meetings or if you have a computer-related problem and need technical advice.

Student portal

From here you will be able to access many of the areas and sites that you use regularly, eg, Blackboard®, your email and the library. You will be able to access this when you have your student password and username at the following address: www.portal.manchester.ac.uk

e-Learning environment: Blackboard®

All units make use of an eLearning environment, such as Blackboard®, to varying degrees. It is therefore crucial that students have access to Blackboard®, know how to use it, and check it regularly for relevant information.

As well as teaching and assessment materials, Blackboard® has a Course Information folder that contains details about the course, brief information about the individual units, a link to the course handbook and details of other University resources that will be useful during the course. From the Blackboard® homepage, you can also access Announcements and the General Discussion Board.

Blackboard® will be used for all course content and you will access Blackboard® through the student portal using your university username and password.

e-Portfolio: PebblePad+ ®

We use PebblePad+ for the portfolio assessment and this will run alongside Blackboard.

Course Overview

This 30-credit course comprises:

• 26 days’ structured learning activities
• 90 hours of supervised practice with support from a designated prescribing practitioner who will enable the development of sound skills in the field of prescribing practice.

The course is delivered through e-lectures, directed online learning materials, discussion boards, formative assignments and webinars. During the contingency period, there will be no study days or assessments on campus, but participation in the online workshops is mandatory and online assessment will be fully supported.

You can find a copy of the programme specification in the Course Information folder on Blackboard®.

References

Throughout this course handbook, we will refer to the following resources (which were all last accessed on 13 September 2021):

• General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)(2019). Guidance on tutoring and supervising pharmacy professionals in training. Available at www.pharmacyregulation.org/sites/default/files/document/guidance_on_supervising_pharmacy_professionals_in_training_august_2018.pdf
• General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)(2019). Standards for the education and training of pharmacist independent prescribers. Available at www.pharmacyregulation.org/sites/default/files/document/standards-for-the-education-and-training-of-pharmacist-independent-prescribers-january-19.pdf
• Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)(2018). Standards for prescribers [online]. Available at www.nmc.org.uk/standards/standards-for-post-registration/standards-for-prescribers
• Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS)(2021). A competency framework for all prescribers. Available at www.rpharms.com/resources/frameworks/prescribers-competency-framework
• Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS)(2019). A competency framework for designated prescribing practitioners. Available at www.rpharms.com/resources/frameworks/designated-prescribing-practitioner-competency-framework

We may refer to designated prescribing practitioners (note lowercase format) as an umbrella term for the Designated Prescribing Practitioner, Practice Assessor and Practice Supervisor. This is in line with the agreement made by all stakeholder organisations during the development of A competency framework for designated prescribing practitioners (RPS, 2019). You can find further details of these roles in section 2.4.

Course aims

Enable pharmacists, nurses, midwives and health visitors to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for safe and effective prescribing practice, to successfully meet the standards set out by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) and apply for registration to practice as independent prescribers.

The course will enable students to:

• Develop a systematic, evidence-based and critically reflective approach to identifying and addressing development needs associated with independent prescribing.
• Critically appraise the ability to meet and further develop the consultation competencies within A competency framework for all prescribers (RPS, 2021).
• Critically appraise the ability to meet and further develop the governance competencies within A competency framework for all prescribers (RPS, 2021).
• Meet the professional standards set out by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC, pharmacists) or the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC, NMC registrants) to enable application for registration as an independent prescriber.

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of the course, all practitioners will be able to demonstrate the competencies detailed in A competency framework for all prescribers (RPS, 2021).

GPhC outcomes

At the point of qualification, pharmacist independent prescribers will also be able to:

Person-centred care

1. Recognise the psychological and physical impact of prescribing decisions on people
2. Understand and meet their legal responsibilities under equality and human rights legislation and respect diversity and cultural differences
3. Take responsibility for ensuring that person-centred care is not compromised because of personal values and beliefs
4. Demonstrate appropriate history-taking techniques through effective consultation skills
5. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of the prescriber in working in partnership with people who may not be able to make fully informed decisions about their health needs
6. Support individuals to make informed choices that respect people’s preferences
7. Demonstrate a critical understanding of their own role and the role of others in multi-professional teams

Professionalism

1. Recognise their own role as a responsible and accountable prescriber who understands legal and ethical implications
2. Apply relevant legislation and ethical frameworks related to prescribing, including remote prescribing and the handling and sharing of confidential information
3. Recognise and manage factors that may influence prescribing decisions
4. Apply local, regional and national guidelines, policies and legislation related to healthcare
5. Reflect on and develop their own prescribing practice to ensure it represents current best practice
6. Apply an understanding of health economics when making prescribing decisions
7. Understand the clinical governance of the prescriber, who may also be in a position to supply medicines to people
8. Recognise other professionals’ practice and raise concerns related to inappropriate or unsafe prescribing by other prescribers

Professional knowledge and skills

1. Apply evidence-based decision-making in all aspects of prescribing
2. Manage the risks and benefits associated with prescribing decisions
3. Demonstrate the application of pharmacology in relation to their own prescribing practice
4. Demonstrate clinical and diagnostic skills in clinical settings appropriate to their scope of practice
5. Create and maintain appropriate records which ensure safe and effective care and align with relevant legislation
6. Identify relevant investigations and interpret results and data in their prescribing practice
7. Utilise current and emerging systems and technologies in safe prescribing
8. Identify and respond to people’s needs when prescribing remotely
9. Apply the principles of effective monitoring and management to improve patient outcomes
10. Recognise and manage prescribing and medication errors
11. Recognise the public health issues in promoting health as part of their prescribing practice

Collaboration

1. Work collaboratively with others to optimise individuals’ care, understanding their roles in the prescribing process
2. Recognise their own role and responsibilities, and those of others, in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults
3. Recognise when and where to refer people appropriately
4. Collaborate with people to encourage them to take responsibility for managing care
5. Demonstrate appropriate consultation skills to get information from individuals who are either unaware of or guarded about their health needs, to inform safe prescribing
6. Recognise when to seek guidance from another member of the healthcare team or an appropriate authority

NMC outcomes

The NMC has adopted A competency framework for all prescribers (RPS, 2021) as the indicative learning outcomes for prescribing programmes.

Delivery

The course is designed to offer you the benefit of a flexible approach to online learning at a time that suits you, combined with four half-day online workshops. In addition:

• directed reading and e-lectures will provide knowledge and help you to develop an understanding of the key topics
• workshops to develop practical skills and discuss key concepts with peers
• practice-based activities will allow you to explore the relevance of this learning in the context of your practice through reflection on practice and discussion with colleagues
• discussion boards offer an opportunity to see your peers’ perspectives, share learning and discuss ideas
• 1:1 tutorials afford a more personal perspective on your development.

Online teaching and learning are delivered using the University of Manchester’s learner management system, Blackboard®. We will also use a variety of internet resources to support your learning and we will be using various technologies to support you in achieving an engaging and interactive student experience.

One of the benefits of having pharmacists and NMC registrants on the course together is that each of you will bring your personal experience and knowledge to the course. Sharing that knowledge and experience with your tutors and other students will significantly enhance your learning experience and that of others.

We have made every effort to provide you with the most up-to-date and accurate information; however, some minor details might change during the course of your studies. We will make you aware of changes and in exchange, we request that you notify us if you find content, eg, videos and weblinks, that are broken.

Learning in practice

You will already have identified a designated prescribing practitioner (DPP for pharmacists) or a Practice Assessor (PA) and Practice Supervisor (PS for NMC registrants) who will support your period of learning in practice.

Eligibility criteria for Designated Prescribing Practitioners, Practice Assessors and Practice Supervisors

The DPP/PA will facilitate the 90-hour period of learning, supervision and assessment in clinical practice. This includes overseeing, supporting and assessing your competence in clinical practice with patients in collaboration with academic and workplace partners.

The DPP/PA must meet the eligibility criteria set out by the GPhC and NMC, ie, they must be a registered independent prescriber who:

• is a GP, specialist registrar, clinical assistant or consultant who is usually on the relevant GMC specialist register working in a clinically active and relevant setting
• OR is an experienced practitioner, registered with a UK regulatory body, and who holds an independent prescribing annotation.
• is in good standing with their professional regulatory body, has no conditions relating to their practice and is not under investigation for issues related to professionalism or practice.
• is an active prescriber who normally has at least three years of recent clinical and prescribing experience for a group of patients/clients in the relevant field of practice and attained the professional skills and knowledge to oversee, support and assess prescribers-in-training.
• can demonstrate that they meet all competencies within A competency framework for all prescribers (RPS, 2021).
• has experience or training in teaching and/or supervising in practice.
• normally works with the applicant.
• is sufficiently impartial to the outcome for the applicant and, wherever possible, should not be the same person sponsoring them to undertake the course.
• has the support of the employing organisation or GP practice to act as the Designated Prescribing Practitioner or Practice Assessor.
• is familiar with the requirements of the course and the need for the applicant to achieve the learning outcomes.
• agrees to retain the primary responsibility for the overall supervision and assessment of the applicant as a prescriber in training while working in collaboration with academic and workplace partners during the applicant’s period of learning in practice.
• meets all of the competencies detailed in A competency framework for designated prescribing practitioners (RPS, 2019)

In addition, Practice Assessors must:

• ensure there are sufficient opportunities to periodically observe the student to inform decisions for assessment and progression
• ensure there are sufficient opportunities to gather and coordinate feedback from the Practice Supervisor and other relevant people to be assured about decisions relating to student assessment and progression.
• agree to work in partnership with the nominated Academic Assessor to evaluate and recommend the student for progression in line with course standards.

The Practice Supervisor must be a registered independent prescriber who:

• is an active prescriber who has current clinical and prescribing experience for a group of patients/clients in the area in which they are providing support, supervision and feedback.
• can demonstrate that they meet all competencies within A competency framework for all prescribers (RPS,2021).
• has an understanding of the proficiencies and course outcomes that they are supporting students to achieve.
• agrees to support and supervise the student, providing feedback on their progress towards, and achievement of, proficiencies and skills for safe and effective practice as an Independent Prescriber.
• agrees to periodically record relevant observations on the conduct, proficiency and achievement of the student, and to share these observations with practice and academic assessors to inform decisions for progression.
• will appropriately raise and respond to student conduct and competence concerns.
• is familiar with the A competency framework for designated prescribing practitioners (RPS, 2019) and can already demonstrate these competencies or is working towards achieving them.

Information for your DPP, PA and PS is available in the Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP) Handbook section of this document. Please ensure that they have a copy of this.

Should you need to change your DPP, PA or PS during the course, please discuss this with your Academic Assessor, provide any necessary documentation and gain the approval of the Course Lead before recording any supervised practice with the new person.

Roles and responsibilities

The nature of arrangements for the period of learning in practice, including the proportion of time with the DPP or PA/PS), is determined by the trainee prescriber’s profession. Trainee prescribers should also spend time with a range of other prescribers, ideally from different professions, so that they see different approaches to similar tasks and receive feedback from different perspectives.

Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP, for pharmacists)

The DPP retains the primary responsibility for the overall supervision and assessment of the applicant as a prescriber in training while working in collaboration with academic and workplace partners during the applicant’s period of learning in practice.

This means that the DPP doesn’t need to provide all 90 hours of supervised practice, but universities often stipulate a minimum number of hours. At Manchester, we require that the named DPP supervises at least 45 hours. The DPP has a crucial role in supporting trainee pharmacist prescribers that involves:

• agreeing on a learning contract with the trainee prescriber
• planning a programme of learning in practice that will provide the opportunity for the trainee prescriber to meet their development needs and gain competency in prescribing
• facilitating learning by encouraging critical thinking and reflection
• providing dedicated time and opportunities for the trainee prescriber to observe how they conduct consultations with patients and their carers and the development of management plans
• allowing the trainee prescriber to carry out consultations, suggest management and prescribing options and plan follow-up
• helping the trainee prescriber to integrate theory with practice
• encouraging in-depth analysis of diagnostic and management approaches through case-based discussion
• providing timely feedback on highlights in performance and areas for improvement
• assessing progress and verifying that, by the end of the course, the trainee prescriber is competent to assume the prescribing role
• taking responsibility for signing off competencies
• working in collaboration with peers and the Academic Assessor to support the trainee prescriber
• maintain the suitability of the practice learning environments.

Practice Assessor (PA, for NMC registrants)

The PA retains primary responsibility for the period of learning in practice and assessment of the trainee prescriber while working in collaboration with academic and workplace partners during the applicant’s period of learning in practice.

This means that the PA doesn’t provide all 90 hours of supervised practice, but universities often stipulate a minimum number of hours. At Manchester, we require that the PA supervises between 15 and 30 hours. The PA has a crucial role in supporting trainee prescribers that involves:

• agreeing on a learning contract with the trainee prescriber and Practice Supervisor
• planning a programme of learning in practice that will provide the opportunity for the trainee prescriber to meet their development needs and gain competency in prescribing
• facilitating learning by encouraging critical thinking and reflection
• providing dedicated time to observe and provide feedback to the trainee prescriber on highlights in performance and areas for improvement
• encouraging in-depth analysis of diagnostic and management approaches through case-based discussion
• assessing progress and verifying that, by the end of the course, the trainee prescriber is competent to assume the prescribing role
• taking responsibility for signing off competencies
• working in collaboration with the Practice Supervisor and the Academic Supervisor to support the trainee prescriber
• maintain the suitability of the practice learning environments.

Practice Supervisor (PS, for NMC registrants)

The PS is involved with supervision rather than assessment, and should not be the same person as the PA. The PS role includes:

• agreeing on a learning contract with the trainee prescriber and Practice Assessor
• planning a programme of learning in practice that will provide the opportunity for the trainee prescriber to meet their development needs and gain competency in prescribing
• facilitating learning by encouraging critical thinking and reflection
• providing dedicated time and opportunities for the trainee prescriber to observe how they conduct consultations with patients and their carers and the development of management plans
• allowing the trainee prescriber to carry out consultations, suggest management and prescribing options and plan follow-up
• helping the trainee prescriber to integrate theory with practice
• encouraging in-depth analysis of diagnostic and management approaches through case-based discussion
• providing timely feedback on highlights in performance and areas for improvement
• working in collaboration with peers and the Practice Assessor and Academic Assessor to support the trainee prescriber.

Collaboration between academic and workplace partners

Communication between academic and workplace partners is essential to ensure effective development and assure appropriate standards of assessment. All students are allocated an Academic Assessor (AA) who liaises with the DPP or PA and PS.

The AA is responsible for both pastoral and academic support, which includes:

• assisting students with the process of induction and orientation into academic life
• responding promptly to communication from students
• working with students to build personal academic relationships
• providing advice and guidance to students to support their academic and professional progress
• monitoring academic performance and engagement, ie, through regular tutorials and feedback on formative assignments
• advising on constructive strategies to address development needs
• providing pastoral support and signposting for non-academic matters
• summative assessment within the assessment strategy
• providing feedback on the performance of assessments
• liaising with Designated Prescribing Practitioners or Practice Assessors about the practice-based student assessment.
• escalating concerns promptly to the Programme Director
• contributing to the development of learning materials, assessments and course delivery in line with learning outcomes and professional and practice standards.

Progress meetings

You are required to undertake three formal meetings with your DPP/PA and AA during the course. This can also be an opportunity for the Practice Supervisor to contribute to discussions about progress and actions to address development needs. The three checkpoints are:

• initial meeting to agree on the learning contract and plan further support and assessment
• mid-point meeting to formally review progress towards the prescribing competencies/learning outcomes and adjust the learning contract if required
• final assessment to assess suitability for the award based on completion of the period of learning in practice and demonstration of the requisite competencies.

These meetings will generally be online, last around 30 minutes and have set agendas, which are available in the PebblePad portfolio. The DPP or PA and PS should attend for half of the meeting and the other half is for the student and Academic Assessor to address any academic questions. However, they are also flexible to the needs of the student and situation. The progress meetings provide the opportunity to keep track of student progress, resolve any issues or queries and support the student with their studies. It also helps to identify any issues with time management or meeting competencies at the earliest opportunity.

Following each progress meeting, you must document notes from the meeting in your portfolio.

Supervised practice

Supervised practice is a dynamic process that generally follows a series of stages (see figure 1). It is not simply about accruing time in practice, but about developing the competencies required of a prescriber. While the 90 hours is a requirement, it also serves as an indicator of the level of commitment required and allows appropriate time to be planned through the course. It is not uncommon for students to require more than 90 hours to ensure competence and confidence and so we recommend that the 90 hours is achieved well ahead of the portfolio deadline to allow time for additional development if required.

The learning contract contextualises the competencies to the student’s area of practice and details actions to address these development needs. For pharmacists, much of the supervision and all of the assessments are undertaken by the DPP. For NMC registrants, the Practice Assessor and Practice Supervisor must agree on a plan with the student that allows the Practice Supervisor to support the development of competencies ahead of assessment by the Practice Assessor.

Case-based discussion and multi-disciplinary team meetings can count towards the period of learning in practice as long as they are supervised by a prescriber, involve patients that you are involved with the care of and are relevant to the identified development needs. However, they should not form the majority of your supervised practice, which should focus on gathering feedback on your practical and reasoning skills.

Teaching

The course comprises six days of workshops. On enrolment, you will be provided with a log in for Blackboard®, so that you can access the online learning materials and a University email address.

You will be able to access Blackboard® remotely using any internet connection and your log in details. Help with accessing the electronic resources will be available from the prescribing teaching team at the beginning of the module and help with problems is available from the IT service desk on 0161 306 5544.

Teaching Schedule

There are six mandatory study days for which you can find the dates on the Blackboard homepage.

The first is an induction session that will provide information about the course as well as an opportunity to meet some of the team and your peers.

All other workshops are designed to develop your understanding of pre-workshop tasks and provide an opportunity to discuss concepts and ideas with your peers.

Attendance

All students are required to attend all workshops. The remainder of the work will be provided in an online format and completed through online activity. Attendance will be confirmed by registers and students will only be permitted to progress to assessments if they have complete attendance. Please bear in mind that being late to any workshop could impact on the assessment of your attendance and punctuality is an important factor in professionalism.

We understand that students will sometimes be absent for very good reasons due to personal or family circumstances. If this happens, we appreciate you making us aware of the circumstances so that we can offer appropriate support. If there are mitigating circumstances, such as illness (you or a family member), please let the Programme Administrator (independent.prescribing@manchester.ac.uk) and your Academic Supervisor know by email. In addition, you must also notify your employer of your sickness and non-attendance (see Mitigating circumstances for further information).

The regulators view prescribing as a high-risk activity and attendance at all workshops is mandatory. Students will not be permitted to attempt any summative assessments until they have complete attendance at all workshops, progress meetings and have submitted all formative assignments.

You can read more about the university policy on Monitoring Attendance and Wellbeing of Students in Regulation XX Monitoring Attendance and Wellbeing of Students.

Sickness

You must notify the Programme Director of absences from work (supervised practice) or study due to illness of fewer than 7 days using self-certification forms. Longer absences must be certified by a medical note signed by a general practitioner or hospital doctor. It is in your interests to keep us fully informed of medical or other problems you have so that the effect these may have on your work can be taken into account in examination meetings. We will be able to advise whether support from the Disability Advice and Support Service would be available/necessary to secure adjustments to teaching/assessment arrangements.

The University’s policy regarding Work and Attendance of students is available from the policy webpage: http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=1895

Induction session

The course has a mandatory induction webinar that allows participants to learn more about the University, course and facilities. We introduce the programme team, offer an overview of the course, explain why the style of learning is so important for the success of the course and demonstrate the eLearning system.

There is also induction e-learning and screencast for DPPs, PAs and PSs, which is followed up with the opportunity to discuss roles, responsibilities and processes with the Academic Assessor during the initial progress meeting.

Pre-requisite IT skills

We ask you to ensure that you are familiar with the basics of:

• using a personal computer, including Microsoft® software, particularly Microsoft® Word®
• using the internet as an aid to study, including bookmaking, saving and storing web-based material, and communicating via email
• using a web-based search engine to search a clinical database (eg, PubMed).

See Technical support (below) for further details.

Computer hardware

You should have regular access to a Windows PC (or Windows-compatible PC) on which you can adjust the settings if required. Blackboard® may require you to make minor adjustments to your settings or browser.

You do not need a high specification (expensive) computer to complete this course. However, you will need access to a reliable, fast internet connection because this will significantly improve the download times for web pages, audio and video. You can find details of system requirements on the Blackboard® Browser Support page: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Student/Getting_Started/Browser_Support

We also require a soundcard in your computer and a headset and microphone.

Software

The software required to access the online course is:

• an internet web browser, ie, Chrome or Firefox
• Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Please note that Internet Explorer is not supported by Blackboard®. We are also aware of specific issues affecting Safari and Edge, so we only recommend Chrome or Firefox.

If you have any initial problems, we recommended completing a Blackboard® browser check: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Student/Getting_Started/Browser_Support/Browser_Checker

Apple Mac Computers

If you are running Mac OS 10.4 or above, you should be able to access the course materials through Chrome or Firefox. For further information, please refer to the Blackboard® list of supported browsers: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Student/Getting_Started/Browser_Support. This page suggests that Safari is also supported. However, we are aware of some students having difficulty with assignment submissions and some embedded video content when using some versions of the Mac OS and Safari, so we recommend Chrome for all users.

If you are a Mac user or have other technical queries about the course please email for further details: elearning@manchester.ac.uk.

Technical Support

If you are having problems accessing the student portal, email or your course materials, please click on the following link for support: http://bmh-elearning.org/technical-support/

Alternatively, you can contact: eLearning Support (Working hours: 9.00 am – 5.00 pm)

elearning@manchester.ac.uk*

IMPORTANT: Please write ‘HI technical query’ in the subject header of your email

Please note that queries and support needs for accessing online library resources should be directed to The University of Manchester Helpdesk: http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/about/

On the University campus, there are large open access PC clusters in various buildings, and they have printing, photocopying and scanning facilities, too. They are open at weekends and you can find their locations on the interactive University map (www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/maps/interactive-map) or view real-time availability on the Library website: www.library.manchester.ac.uk/using-the-library/students/library-it-services/pc-availability. If you wish to use any of the on-campus machines, you will need to log in using the same username and password that you use to log into Blackboard®. If you have any queries about this, please contact the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health IT Service Desk (contact details above).

The University also has an extensive Wi-Fi network that can be accessed from most university buildings, cafes and shops on Oxford Road. Details of how to connect to the University network can also be found on the Library website: www.library.manchester.ac.uk/using-the-library/students/library-it-services/connecting-your-computer-to-the-network.

The University also has charging stations in the Alan Gilbert Learning Commons and the Main Library: www.library.manchester.ac.uk/using-the-library/students/library-it-services/charging-stations

IT Services Support Centre online

Login to the Support Centre online to log a request, book an appointment for an IT visit, or search the Knowledge Base: https://www.itservices.manchester.ac.uk/students.

For eLearning support, visit https://elearning.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/student/technical-support/.

Blackboard®

Blackboard®, the University’s ‘virtual learning environment’, will be used for online teaching.

It is a web-based system that complements and builds upon traditional learning methods used at The University of Manchester. By using Blackboard, you can:

• view course materials and learning resources,
• communicate with lecturers and other students,
• collaborate in groups,
• get feedback
• submit assignments
• monitoring your own progress at a time and place of your own convenience.

Training in the use of software

The Faculty eLearning team have produced a short introduction to Blackboard for new students. The recording is hosted in two places:

• the VLS – https://stream.manchester.ac.uk/Play.aspx?VideoId=30453
• YouTube – https://youtu.be/47pA877MKJg

Assessment

Formative and summative assessment instructions are provided on Blackboard®.

Summative assessments

The summative assessment of competence in practice will assess underpinning knowledge, decision-making and application of theory to practice using:

• open book short answer questions
• objective structured clinical examination (OSCE)
• case presentation
• reflective practice portfolio.

We offer a brief overview of each below and you can find more information on Blackboard®.

The open book short answer questions

This series of short answer questions covers knowledge and understanding across the prescribing process and answers are submitted alongside the portfolio. It comprises questions for pharmacology, and law, ethics and governance, and carries an 80% pass mark for both sections.

Students are required to pass both parts of the assessment and there is no compensation between them. If a student fails either section of the assessment, they must attempt that section again.

Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE)

This involves assessing your patient/client consultation skills as they relate to prescribing, as well as your decision making, problem solving and practical skills. This will comprise three stations that focus on:

• prescription-writing and providing medicines-related information
• history-taking with case note entry
• basic observations.

All stations are marked as pass or fail and you must successfully complete all three to pass the assessment. Students who fail the assessment must resit the failed station/s.

The OSCE will be undertaken on campus and we will provide all of the equipment that you will require. You might want to bring your own pwn and stethoscope. If you feel that you will require anything else, you must discuss this with the Programme Director well in advance of the exam; this includes medicines that you may need to use during the examination.

Case presentation

Most of the elements of the assessment address specific aspects of the prescribing process in isolation. The case presentation is an opportunity to bring most of these competencies together in the context of your scope of practice. You will deliver the case presentation by webinar in groups of up to four students.

You will be permitted 15 minutes to deliver a case that represents what you expect to be your typical initial prescribing practice, that demonstrates your development from practitioner to prescriber and that you have managed autonomously. The examiner and your peers will ask questions relating to the case to conclude this assessment. We have provided a template presentation and further guidance on Blackboard®.

Reflective practice portfolio

The reflective practice portfolio provides a framework through which to record and demonstrate your progress and achievements during the period of supervised practice. We will use A competency framework for all prescribers (RPS, 2021) as a framework for this, and your learning in practice should be focused to demonstrate that you have met the competencies outlined within this framework. You will create your portfolio throughout the course using PebblePad.

Please remember that patient confidentiality is of paramount importance, and any breach of confidentiality will result in an automatic fail of the portfolio assessment.

As well as looking for evidence of your competence within your portfolio, we expect you to demonstrate an ability to critically reflect on your own practice. The portfolio carries a pass mark of 50%. The marking scheme is available on Blackboard® and you will have the opportunity for feedback from your Academic Assessor.

Assignment word count

In accordance with the University Policy on Marking: http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=26290.

Portfolio essays and the short answer questions have word limits and the following penalties will be imposed for submissions that exceed the stated word limit:

0 marks if up to 10 % longer than stipulated

5 marks if more than 10 %, but less than15 % longer than stipulated

10 marks if more than 15 %, but less than 20 % longer than stipulated

15 marks if more than 20 % longer than stipulated

A zero mark will be awarded if the piece of work exceeds the stipulated length by more than 50 %. It is acceptable, without penalty, for you to submit an assignment within a range that is plus 10% of this limit. If you present an assignment with a word count exceeding the specified limit by 10-50, the assignment will be marked but marks will be deducted, and this can reduce your mark below the pass mark.

In accordance with accepted academic practice, when submitting any written assignment for summative assessment, the notion of a word count includes the following without exception:

• All titles or headings that form part of the actual text. This does not include the fly page or reference list.
• All words that form the actual essay.
• All words forming the titles for figures, tables and boxes, are included but this does not include boxes or tables or figures themselves.
• All in-text (that is bracketed) references.
• All directly quoted material.

SafeAssign and Turnitin®

The University uses electronic systems to detect plagiarism and other forms of academic malpractice during the course. Such systems include SafeAssign and TurnitinUK.

As part of the formative and/or summative assessment process, you may be asked to submit electronic versions of your work to these systems.

The School also reserves the right to submit work handed in by you for formative or summative assessment to SafeAssign/TurnitinUK and/or other electronic systems used by the University.

Please note that when work is submitted to the relevant electronic systems, it may be copied and then stored in a database to allow appropriate checks to be made. However, there are systems in place to ensure that formative submissions do not affect the similarity score of your summative assessments.

Assessment dates

The portfolio submission is the last assessment and this is scheduled for midday on 8 February 2022. Answers to short answer questions are due at the same time, although there is a separate submission area.

OSCE and case presentation assessments will be scheduled during the course and will be between the last online workshop and the portfolio deadline.

See the Assessment folder on Blackboard® for further information, including details of formative assessment deadlines.

Feedback policy

The following policy has been developed in line with the University Policy on feedback to undergraduate and postgraduate taught students: www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/policy-on-feedback-to-undergraduate-and-postgraduate-taught-students.

“The University of Manchester is committed to providing timely and appropriate feedback to students on their academic progress and achievement, thereby enabling students to reflect on their progress and plan their academic and skills development effectively. Feedback, and acting on feedback, is, therefore, part of the active learning process throughout a student’s course of study.” (Teaching and Learning Support Office, 2010)

On the course we are committed to providing:

• immediate personalised feedback during workshops
• personalised feedback within eight working days for scheduled formative submissions*
• personalised feedback within 15 working days of submission for other formative work
• an opportunity to understand the marking scheme as well as the OSCE format through peer assessment of the mock OSCE
• provision of personalised feedback on all summative assessments.

*This is a short course, so we are committed to reducing the turnaround for formative feedback. With this in mind, we set deadlines for formative assessments so that tutors can schedule a time to provide feedback in a much shorter timeframe; usually eight working days. However, this is only possible when students meet the set deadline. Where a deadline is exceeded, the university standard of 15 working days applies.

Similarly, Academic Assessors cannot necessarily provide ad hoc feedback in less than 15 working days without a prior agreement and even then, it will depend on their workload and other commitments.

In the case of staff sickness that may delay feedback, students will be advised by email and the programme team will aim to make alternate arrangements to reduce delays.

Feedback is designed to be balanced by highlighting areas of good practice and offering guidance to address development needs. We encourage you to reflect on the feedback and to incorporate the ideas into your next work. If you are uncertain about it or have any questions, please ask your Academic Assessor for clarification.

Formative feedback

Formative feedback is intended to help students to develop their understanding and submissions towards the summative assessments. This is in several ways:

• three formative assignments for the reflective practice portfolio
• workshop activities and the mock OSCE
• formative short answer question discussion board
• numeracy quiz.

These are required assessments but do not contribute to your final assessments.

It is your own responsibility to consider the feedback given on your work, to seek to understand it and to act on it.

Summative assessments

All summative results will be released after the Exam Board, which we expect to schedule for September 2022.

We do not provide provisional results because you cannot request annotation or practise as a prescriber until your result has been ratified by the Exam Board. Rather than spend time writing and checking provisional results, we concentrate on progressing to Exam Board as soon as possible to reduce delays to your annotation as a prescriber.

However, we do provide feedback on all formative assessments, irrespective of whether you pass, and this is intended to support your further development.

Recommendation of award

Due to the practice-based nature of the programme and the accreditation by the regulatory bodies, this programme has some higher requirements compared with the University Postgraduate Taught Degree Regulations (www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate-degree-regulations) and details of these are outlined below.

You must achieve a pass in both stations to pass the OSCE assessment.

You must complete all three calculations accurately to pass the numeracy assessment.

The case presentation and reflective practice portfolio have 50% pass marks.

The short answer questions consist of two parts, which both have an 80% pass mark. A pass in both sections is required to pass the assessment and there is no compensation between sections.

To successfully complete the course, you must complete all assessments independently of one another at the required pass mark. This means that obtaining a high mark in one assessment will not compensate for failure in another.

Students must complete the full course of study, including all assessed elements, within 12 months of the initial start date. In exceptional circumstances, a student may complete the course within a two-year period. Failure to meet this requirement means that the student must enrol for the course from the start, retaking all learning and associated assessments.

Failure of assessment

If an assessment is failed, the student will be offered the opportunity to re-sit the assessment on one occasion only. Achieving a “fail” in practice, as determined by the DPP/PA, will not be subject to a resit attempt, and students who fail their time in practice will fail the course.

Note that any issue regarded as unsafe practice will constitute an automatic fail of the course. Any example of a student compromising patient safety will be discussed with the student’s regulator as a professional issue and not an academic matter.

Resits

If the student resubmits work, it will be counted as a resit. The maximum mark the student can obtain for a resit is the pass mark for that assessment.

Resit assessments are taken as part of the next available cohort. If there is any reason that this is not possible, the student must submit a mitigating circumstances/interruption request to delay the resit/resubmission to a later cohort (see sections 4.6 and 4.8).

Failure at the first and second attempt

If a student fails an assessment at the first attempt and then fails the resit, they will not be eligible to take the course again. This will result in an overall fail and exclusion from the course.

Extensions

If you require an extension for your portfolio assessment, you must complete the online Extension Request Form send your evidence to dpo.pgt@manchester.ac.uk (including your name, University ID number and programme) before 4 pm on the last working day before the submission deadline. You must not submit extension requests via Blackboard®, the Course Lead or Academic Assessors.  Please be assured that all information is treated in confidence.

Extensions will be granted at the discretion of the Programme Director. Extensions are only granted for acute illness around assignment submission time and any unforeseen life events that affect your ability to work in the short term. They are not given for increased workload at your place of work, students who register late or who book holidays during term time.

The Programme Director has the discretion to grant extensions of up to two weeks. Any longer than this must be requested through the mitigating circumstances route (see below).

Any magnitude of extension by any route will mean that results are presented to the next cohort’s Exam Board and a  delay in qualification.

Mitigating circumstances

If during the course of the year you experience any mitigating circumstances that you think may have an adverse effect on your academic performance (eg, prolonged illness or bereavement) you should first discuss the matter with your Academic Assessor who will advise next steps. This is likely to involve you completing the online Mitigating Circumstances Form and sending your supporting evidence to dpo.pgt@manchester.ac.uk (including your name, University ID number and programme) before the assessment submission deadline. The mitigating circumstances panel usually meets once a month.

You can find more information about the university Policy on Mitigating Circumstances on the university website:

www.campus.manchester.ac.uk/tlso/map/teachinglearningassessment/assessment/sectionc-reachingdecisionsfromassessment/policyonmitigatingcircumstances

You can find a Basic guide for mitigating circumstances for students here:

www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/basic-guide-mitigating-circumstances

Late submission penalty

Work submitted after the deadline without prior approval will be subject to a late penalty in accordance with the University Policy on Submission of Work for Summative Assessment on Taught Programmes. The penalty applied is 10 % of available marks deducted per day/24 hours (from the time of the original or extended deadline), until the assignment is submitted, or no marks remain.

Penalties for late submission relate to 24-hour periods hours/calendar days, so include weekends and weekdays, as well as bank holidays and University closure days.

The mark awarded for the piece of work will be reduced by:

• 10 % of the available marks deducted if up to 24 hours (1 day) late
• 20 % of the available marks deducted if up to 48 hours (2 days) late
• 30 % of the available marks deducted if up to 72 hours (3 days) late
• 40 % of the available marks deducted if up to 96 hours (4 days) late
• 50 % of the available marks deducted if up to 120 hours (5 days) late
• 60 % of the available marks deducted if up to 144 hours (6 days) late
• 70 % of the available marks deducted if up to 168 hours (7 days) late
• 80 % of the available marks deducted if up to 192 hours (8 days) late
• 90 % of the available marks deducted if up to 216 hours (9 days) late
• 100 % of the available marks deducted if up to 240 hours (10 days) late.

If the assessment is submitted within 10 days of the deadline the assessment should be marked and feedback to the student provided. If this mark before the penalty is applied reaches the appropriate pass mark but the applied penalty results in a fail of the assessment, the student should not be required to re-sit the assessment because the original mark can be taken as the resit mark.

Work submitted more than 10 days (240 hours) late is regarded as a non-submission and need not be marked. In this case, a mark of zero will be awarded and normal resit regulations will apply.

The sliding scale is only be applied to first-sit submissions. For all referred (resit) assessments, any late submission will automatically receive a mark of zero.

Further information:

Guidance on late submission: http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=29825

Policy on the submission of work for summative assessment on taught programmes: http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=24561

Interruption of studies

If for any reason you need to take a break partway through your course, you can apply to interrupt your studies. This may be used for pregnancy, unexpected changes at work or prolonged illness. You should discuss this with your Academic Assessor in the first instance who will likely recommend an informal discussion with the Programme Director.

A student who wishes to interrupt has to complete the online Interruption Form and send their supporting evidence to dpo.pgt@manchester.ac.uk (including your name, University ID number and programme).

Please note, however, that students must complete the full course of study including all assessed elements within 12 months of the initial start date. In exceptional circumstances only, a student may complete the course within a two-year period. Failure to meet this requirement means that the student must enrol for the course from the start, retaking all learning and associated assessments.

Withdrawal from studies

If for any reason you would like to withdraw from your studies, please contact independent.prescribing@manchester.ac.uk for further guidance. We will ask you to give notification of your withdrawal in writing and you may be invited to speak to a member of academic staff before your withdrawal is processed. Please note that you may be liable for part or whole of the tuition fees due and/or an administrative charge if you decide to withdraw once teaching has started.

Some student progression matters requiring decisions and actions will be referred to the Programme Exam Board. These include unsatisfactory work and attendance issues, failure to progress due to poor assessment performance and conduct and discipline issues which breach the University’s Regulations on Conduct and discipline of students: http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=6530

Academic appeals

Students have a right of appeal against a final decision of an Examination Board, or a progress committee, or a graduate committee or equivalent body which affects their academic status or progress in the University.

Students thinking of appealing should first discuss the matter informally with an appropriate member of staff, to better understand the reason for the result or decision.

If you wish to proceed to a formal appeal, you must submit it within the timeframe outlined in the Academic Appeals Procedure by email (FBMHappealsandcomplaints@manchester.ac.uk) or by post to:

Faculty Appeals and Complaints Team

Room 3.21, Simon Building

University of Manchester

M13 9PL

The Academic Appeals Procedure (Regulation XIX) and associated documents, including the form on which formal appeals should be submitted, can be found at www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/academic.

Publication of results

After the Examinations Boards, students will be informed of their final results by email.

Once you have successfully completed the course, you must record your prescribing qualification with the General Pharmaceutical Council (for pharmacists) or the Nursing & Midwifery council (for NMC registrants). Pharmacists should apply to the GPhC for annotation as a prescriber within six months of the award. NMC registrants must record their qualification within five years of the award.

You must not prescribe in practice until you have received confirmation of the annotation of your registration from your regulator. You should also have an indemnity arrangement in place, which may require registration as a prescriber with your organisation.

External Examiner

External Examiners are individuals from another institution or organisation who monitor the assessment processes of the University to ensure fairness and academic standards. They ensure that assessment and examination procedures have been fairly and properly implemented and that decisions have been made after appropriate deliberation. They also ensure that standards of awards and levels of student performance are at least comparable with those in equivalent higher education institutions.

External Examiners’ reports relating to this programme will be shared with student representatives at the programme board, where details of any actions carried out by the programme team in response to the External Examiners’ comments will be discussed. Students should contact their student representatives if they require any further information about External Examiners’ reports or the process for considering them.

The External Examiner for this programme is Bernadette Rae, Associate Professor and Course Director for Non-Medical Prescribing at London South Bank University.

Please note that it is inappropriate for students to make direct contact with the External Examiner under any circumstances, in particular with regards to a student’s individual performance in assessments. Other appropriate mechanisms are available for students, including the University’s appeals or complaints procedures and the University of Manchester Students’ Union (UMSU) Advice Centre. In cases where a student does contact an External Examiner directly, External Examiners have been requested not to respond to direct queries. Instead, External Examiners should report the matter to their School contact who will then contact the student to remind them of the other methods available for students. If students have any queries concerning this, they should contact their Programme Office.

Course evaluation

Your feedback is extremely important to us and supports us to reflect on our practice and the development of the course in the same way that we aim to support your reflection and development. We request feedback at intervals during the course and consider the feedback at the programme board meeting unless urgent action is required.

We also convene a student council at the end of the taught component of the course so that student representatives can gain a better understanding of the cohort’s experience. This enables a more constructive discussion of solutions at the programme board meeting.

Academic Malpractice

University guidance and mandatory training

The University does not permit plagiarism or other forms of academic malpractice under any circumstances, and individuals found to have committed such an incident can expect a harsh penalty, which in some cases results in exclusion from the University.

To ensure that you are fully informed about University expectations and understand your responsibilities concerning academic malpractice please ensure you complete mandatory academic malpractice training in the Blackboard unit SHSS60001 and have read the guidance provided by the University to students on this topic. This is available at: www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/academic

You can also access an online e-learning package on Avoiding plagiarism via the University Library’s award-winning skills programme, My Learning Essentials. If you have any doubts or further questions, please contact your Academic Assessor or Programme Director.

Further information on Academic Malpractice and how to avoid it can be found at www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/guidance-to-students-on-plagiarism-and-other-forms-of-academic-malpractice.

More about academic malpractice and plagiarism

As a student, you are expected to co-operate in the learning process throughout your course of study by completing assessments of various kinds that are the product of your own study or research. For most students, this does not present a problem, but occasionally, whether unwittingly or otherwise, a student may commit what is known as plagiarism or some other form of academic malpractice when carrying out an assessment. This may come about because students have been used to different conventions in their prior educational experience or through general ignorance of what is expected of them.

We have designed this guide to help you understand what we regard as academic malpractice and hence to help you to avoid committing it. You should read it carefully because academic malpractice is regarded as a serious offence and students found to have committed it will be penalised. Academic malpractice includes plagiarism, collusion, fabrication or falsification of results and anything else intended by those committing it to achieve credit that they do not properly deserve. You should take note that the work you submit may be screened electronically to check against other material on the web and other submitted work.

Plagiarism and collusion, and anything else that is intended to achieve credit a student does not properly deserve, is taken very seriously by the Programme Director for this course and the whole of the University. They are defined as follows:

Plagiarism is the presentation of the ideas, work or words of other people without proper, clear and unambiguous acknowledgement. It also includes the submission, in whole or in part, of a student’s own work, self-plagiarism, where, for example, such work may have been previously submitted for a different assessment.

Collusion occurs when a student or students collaborate inappropriately or illicitly with another student or students with the intention of improving the mark or grade of an individual or group.

Fabrication or falsification of data or results by individual students or groups of students is the presentation or inclusion in assignments of figures or data unsupported by verifiable or documented programmes of research; this may or may not additionally involve instances of plagiarism and/or collusion.

As this is a postgraduate course any suspicion of plagiarism or collusion must be referred directly to the Faculty level for investigation and possible penalty. In this course we must report ALL students who are suspected of plagiarism, so please do not put yourself in the very uncomfortable position of being accused of plagiarism because of poor referencing. Where a student is found guilty of academic malpractice, they may be referred to their regulator for consideration of fitness to practise.

Ignorance is not accepted as an excuse. You are advised to carefully study the university’s guidance on the subject, which may be found at the following website: www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/studyskills/essentials/writing/avoiding_plagiarism.html

Concerns

Fitness to practise

As a registered healthcare professional, you are expected to behave at all times in a way that is consistent with your regulator’s standards for conduct, ethics and performance, and demonstrate professional standards for safe and effective practice.

Postgraduate students must be aware that in the event of misconduct, dishonesty, unprofessional behaviour, or other behaviour or illness (eg, mental health illness) that raises the possibility that the student’s fitness to practise may be impaired, the University has a duty to protect the public and to inform the GPhC or NMC. This means, for example, that where a student has been found to be dishonest (eg, plagiarism, collusion, falsification of research data or other forms of cheating) the matter may be reported by the University to the GPhC or NMC.

Students who are dishonest risk failing to be awarded the intended degree and also place at risk their professional career.

Likewise, any student who demonstrates dangerous or illegal practices whilst on the course, including any practices identified through assessment that raise questions about the student’s fitness to practise, may also be reported to the regulatory body. Fitness to practise issues will be referred to the Faculty Postgraduate Progress Committee in the first instance.

You are also reminded of the importance of patient confidentiality. Within the e-portfolio, you are recording information about your experiences in practice, which will include information about your interactions with patients. You are reminded that you must not record or submit any patient identifiable information. It is your responsibility to remove all information that could compromise patient confidentiality. You may use pseudonyms to disguise your patient’s identity, but you must make it clear that you have done this. Failure to adequately anonymise submitted material will constitute a breach of patient confidentiality and will result in a fail of the affected work.

Information on fitness to practise-related matters can be found at:

www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/bmh/teaching/teaching-activity/fitness-to-practise

Conduct and Discipline of Students

General University information on the Conduct and Discipline of Students can be found at www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/tlso/academic-appeals-complaints-and-misconduct/conduct-and-discipline-of-students.

Faculty policies for students on Communication and Dress Code, Social Networking and Drugs & Alcohol can be found at:

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=29038 (Communication and Dress Code)

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=29039 (Drugs & Alcohol)

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=29040 (Social Networking)

Information on Academic Malpractice and how to avoid it can be found at www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/guidance-to-students-on-plagiarism-and-other-forms-of-academic-malpractice.

The University Library has produced online resources to help students in avoiding plagiarism and academic malpractice at:

www.library.manchester.ac.uk/using-the-library/students/training-and-skills-support/my-learning-essentials/online-resources.

Sharing Information

The University may share appropriate information relating to your health and/or conduct with external organisations such as your employer(s), placement and training providers, professional and statutory regulatory bodies (PSRBs), eg, the GPhC or Nursing & Midwifery Council. This may occur where concerns about your health and/or conduct arise, and the University considers it necessary for them to be disclosed to one or more of the above organisations.

The University’s Privacy Notice for Registered Students (which is accessible via this link: www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/data-collection-notice) includes further information about how the University may use and process your personal data, including the legal basis and conditions which may be relevant to such processing (see section 6 of the Privacy Notice). The University will only disclose special category data (such as data relating to your health) to a third-party organisation where one of the additional conditions are satisfied (see section 9 of the Privacy Notice), including where processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest.

Raising concerns

During your period of learning in practice, there may be situations where concerns about teaching and learning under the supervision of the DPP/PA/PS arise. Alternatively, there may be situations within practice where you observe or identify a situation or event that has the potential to cause risk or harm to an individual(s) or organisation.

In the first instance, all students with concerns should raise them with their DPP/PA/PS (unless the issue involves that person). If the concerns are of a nature that the student needs further support or feels unable to raise the matter locally for any reason, the student should seek support from their Academic Assessor in the first instance.

Following a meeting with the student, the Academic Assessor will determine whether any further action is required, or that the student’s concerns are valid, and the matter should be taken further. In this instance, the Academic Assessor will involve the Programme Director.

Support for Students

Student support

You will be allocated a member of the teaching team who will act as your Academic Assessor. You will be encouraged to keep in regular contact with this person in between teaching dates and they will be your first point of contact if you have any questions or queries or just need to talk to someone other than your DPP/PA/PS. Contact details for your Academic Assessor are available on Blackboard®.

You should access the A-Z list of services available to students (www.studentnet.manchester.ac.uk/crucial-guide) to obtain full details of support offered by The University of Manchester. You will have access to these services through the University, although they may be online, via email or by phone. The Programme Director, course tutors and the Programme Administrator are all on hand to support and guide you. If you have any queries or would like to discuss any issues (academic, administrative, technical or personal) please do not hesitate to get in touch. All personal issues will be dealt with confidentially.

If we are unable to help you directly, we can put you in touch with many of the support services that are available to students of the University through our Student Services Centre.

You can approach these services independently, without the involvement of programme staff. Again, use the A-Z of Student Services as an additional source of information.

Student Services Centre (SSC)

You can contact the SSC for information on the following:

E-mail: ssc@manchester.ac.uk

Web: www.studentnet.manchester.ac.uk/crucial-guide/academic-life/registration

Student identity card

If you want a University of Manchester Student ID card, please send evidence of successful registration (a printout from the registration screen or email confirmation), and upload a photograph to your record, then contact the Student Services Centre who may send your University ID card by post.

[Please note that ID cards are unlikely to be available while the campus is closed. They are not required to access buildings and other forms of photographic identification may be acceptable for assessments.]

Health and Safety

The University of Manchester is concerned about the health and safety of all of its students. It has produced a short presentation, available in Blackboard®, which covers basic health and safety issues. Some of the issues cover topics relating to the University buildings and premises. However, others, especially healthy use of PCs, are applicable wherever you are. Before you visit the University campus for any purpose, please take time to read the University’s Health and Safety Policy. This can be accessed via: http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=654

Student Counselling and Mental Health Service

The University of Manchester Counselling Service offers confidential help with any personal issues affecting work, self-esteem, relationships, mental health or general well-being. Counselling can provide a valuable opportunity to work on personal issues in a confidential setting with someone independent from your own life.

The Counselling Service is available for all University of Manchester students (undergraduate, postgraduate or research students) and all members of staff. They are happy to communicate with distance learning students by phone or email. It is free of charge and consists of a team of professional counsellors with extensive experience in helping people with issues such as managing anxiety, confidence and self-esteem, managing low mood, personal development and coping better with academic pressures:

Email: counselling.service@manchester.ac.uk

Web: www.counsellingservice.manchester.ac.uk

Disability Advisory and Support Service

The University of Manchester welcomes students with a disability or specific learning difficulties. The University has a Disability Advisory and Support Service that can supply further information. Staff will be pleased to meet you, by prior arrangement, to discuss your needs. Staff will liaise with your School to make the necessary arrangements for your support during your time in Manchester. The office can also provide a copy of the University’s Disability Statement, Opportunities for students with additional support needs at The University of Manchester, which sets out the policy and provision for students with a disability.

The Disability Advisory and Support Service (DASS) Office is located on the second floor of University Place, Block 2.

E-mail: dass@manchester.ac.uk

Phone: 0161 275 7512/8518

Text: 07899 658 790

Minicom: 0161 275 2794

Fax: 0161 275 7018

Website: www.dass.manchester.ac.uk

In addition, the Division has a Disability Support Officer: Sandra Humphries.

Careers Service

At the University of Manchester, we have a careers service that offers a wide range of services. Information can be found here: www.careers.manchester.ac.uk

Equal opportunities

In conformity with the general intention of the University’s charter, the Public Health and Primary Care Programmes confirm their commitment to a comprehensive policy of equal opportunity for students and prospective students in their admissions policy, in all aspects of teaching and examining, in their counselling of students, and in the way they afford access to any of their benefits, facilities and services. The policy aims to ensure that no student or prospective student receives less favourable treatment directly or indirectly on the grounds of race, nationality, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, marital or parental status, disability, creed, political belief or social or economic class. The Code of Practice for complaints represents our commitment to a programme of action to make these policies fully effective.

Links to current regulations, codes of practice and policies

Regulation XIX – Academic Appeals

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=1872

Regulations: Postgraduate Taught Degrees

www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate-degree-regulations

Guide to the Taught Degree Regulations

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=13144

Policy on Submission of Work for Summative Assessment on Taught Programmes

www.campus.manchester.ac.uk/tlso/map/teachinglearningassessment/assessment/sectionb-thepracticeofassessment/policyonsubmissionofworkforsummativeassessment

Policy on Religious Observance

https://staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/tlso/policy-guidance/assessment/practice-of-assessment/religious-observance/

The Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health has produced guidance for healthcare students on fasting and caring called Fasting and Caring – Looking after yourself and your patients during Ramadan: guidance for health care students: http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=29080

Data Protection

www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/documents/privacy

Work and attendance policy

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=1895

Student Support Issues

Occupational Health Services for Students

www.occhealth.manchester.ac.uk/

International Advice Team

www.manchester.ac.uk/study/international/why-manchester/student-support

Students Union

http://manchesterstudentsunion.com/

Health & Fitness

www.sport.manchester.ac.uk

Student Charter

www.studentnet.manchester.ac.uk/enhancing-my-experience/charter

Coronavirus information page

www.manchester.ac.uk/coronavirus

The A-Z of Services can be found on the MyManchester website.

Here you can find information on a wide range of topics such as library services, disability support and careers advice.

Student representation and feedback

Student representation

Each cohort, we ask students to volunteer for the role of student representative. Student representation plays a vital and important part in helping us to maintain and improve the quality of the services and programmes that we provide.

The role of a student representative has three aspects:

• to liaise between staff and students on matters of concern to either side
• to provide two-way feedback on the course and on teaching quality
• to promote active student involvement in course development.

Student representatives are also invited to speak confidentially to our External Examiner at the end of the academic year and to participate in our Programme Board meetings.

Representatives can participate by attending meetings in person or by teleconference and will be asked to feed information from these meetings back to the other students.

Student feedback

Your feedback is part of an ongoing process of programme and course assessment. You will be asked to complete an online evaluation questionnaire periodically throughout the course.

We cannot identify individual responses, assuring anonymity, because your feedback is extremely important. It not assures quality assurance but also helps University in meeting the requirements of external quality assessment.

Student complaints

The University’s Student Complaints Procedure (Regulation XVIII) and associated documents, including a complaints form, can be found at www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/academic.

A basic guide to student complaints can be found here: http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=23875

The University has separate procedures to address complaints of bullying, harassment, discrimination and/or victimisation: https://www.reportandsupport.manchester.ac.uk/.

Students thinking of submitting a formal complaint should, in most instances, attempt informal resolution first (see the procedure). Formal complaints should be submitted on the relevant form to:

Faculty Appeals and Complaints Team

Room 3.21, Simon Building

University of Manchester

M13 9PL

Or by email to FBMHappealsandcomplaints@manchester.ac.uk

Appendices

Appendix 1: Confirmation of receipt of the handbook

All students are required to send us the following declaration.

I have received a copy of the handbook, containing information on the content, delivery, assessment and management of the course. I have read and understood the University of Manchester’s ordinances and regulations.

I agree that any assessed coursework submitted throughout the academic year will include no plagiarism as defined by the University. I have also noted the grading criteria and pass mark for assignments and the dissertation as relevant to my chosen course of study.

Name: (IN BLOCK CAPITALS)

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Signed:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Course:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Date:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Student ID/Registration Number:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Please complete and return to the postgraduate team as soon as possible.

Scan and e-mail or cut and paste into an e-mail to: independent.prescribing@manchester.ac.uk

If we have not received a signed copy of this form within six weeks of the course start date, an assumption will be made that you HAVE read and understood The University of Manchester’s ordinance and regulations.

Appendix 2: Copyright clause

1. We may make and may authorise third parties to make copies of any work submitted by you for assessment, but only for the following purposes:

a. assessment of your work

b. comparison with databases of earlier answers or works or other previously available works to confirm there is no plagiarism

c. addition to databases of works used to ensure that future works submitted at this institution and others are not plagiarised from your work.

2. We will not make any more copies than are necessary for these purposes, will only use copies made for these purposes, and will only retain such copies as remain necessary for those purposes. Where copies are made and retained for the purposes identified in clauses 1b and 1c above, we shall ensure that no personal data are made available to any third party.

This means that when you submit work to us for assessment it may be necessary for us to make or allow third parties to make copies. Your agreement to the statements in the electronic student declaration and the electronic submission of your work permits us to do this subject to restrictions. There are three reasons why this may be necessary.

Firstly, to allow assessment of your work it may be necessary to copy it. This may be the case when external examiners are involved, when a piece of work is to be assessed by more than one assessor/examiner, or if the assessor needs to mark the work and we need to keep a clean copy.

The second and third reasons you allow us to make copies of your submitted work are both related to plagiarism. To protect our students against unfair competition, we need to ensure that our students are not submitting work that has copied or plagiarised other work or that is not substantially their own work. This can be done by making an electronic copy and comparing it with a database of earlier works and other works available from various sources. A copy made for this purpose will only be kept if that comparison alerts us to the need to consider the work more closely.

The databases that allow us to check that plagiarised works are not being submitted only function well if those databases are well maintained and current. We may provide a copy of your work to the third-party providers who maintain such databases.

Independent Prescribing for Pharmacists and Nurses

Designated Prescribing Practitioner,
Practice Assessor and Practice Supervisor
Handbook 2021-22

Level 7 / 30 credits

Programme Director: Dianne Bell

Introduction

This handbook contains a summary of the main aims and content of the independent prescribing course for pharmacists and nurses. It explains the role of the Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP), Practice Assessor (PA) and Practice Supervisor (PS) in supporting and facilitating student learning in practice. This handbook should be read in conjunction with the Independent Prescribing course handbook for students.

About the course

This independent prescribing course is delivered by the Division of Pharmacy and Optometry in conjunction with the Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work. These divisions sit within the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH), which is known for delivering excellence in education and training for health professionals. It is a hub for world-leading research in medical and health sciences, undertaking cutting-edge research in key focus areas, which are recognised globally as being both innovative and having an impact on healthcare.

The course will utilise a variety of methods to enable students to learn and develop as prescribers. The course takes a blended learning approach, with much of the content delivered through e-learning which provides flexibility for the students to learn in their own time. The student learning experience will be enhanced through face-to-face lectures, seminars, practical workshops and enquiry-based approaches. Student learning will be further supported through the application of theory to practice in their practice setting and the completion of a reflective e-portfolio.

References

Throughout this course handbook, we will refer to the following resources (which were all last accessed on 13 September 2021):

General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)(2019). Guidance on tutoring and supervising pharmacy professionals in training. Available at www.pharmacyregulation.org/sites/default/files/document/guidance_on_supervising_pharmacy_professionals_in_training_august_2018.pdf

General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)(2019). Standards for the education and training of pharmacist independent prescribers. Available at www.pharmacyregulation.org/sites/default/files/document/standards-for-the-education-and-training-of-pharmacist-independent-prescribers-january-19.pdf

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)(2018). Standards for prescribers [online]. Available at www.nmc.org.uk/standards/standards-for-post-registration/standards-for-prescribers

Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS)(2021). A competency framework for all prescribers. Available at www.rpharms.com/resources/frameworks/prescribers-competency-framework

Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS)(2019). A competency framework for designated prescribing practitioners. Available at www.rpharms.com/resources/frameworks/designated-prescribing-practitioner-competency-framework

Course aims

Enable pharmacists, nurses, midwives and health visitors to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for safe and effective prescribing practice, to successfully meet the standards set out by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and apply for registration to practice as independent prescribers.

The course will enable students to:

• Develop a systematic, evidence-based and critically reflective approach to identifying and addressing development needs associated with independent prescribing.
• Critically appraise the ability to meet and further develop the consultation competencies within A competency framework for all prescribers (RPS, 2021).
• Critically appraise the ability to meet and further develop the governance competencies within A competency framework for all prescribers (RPS, 2021).
• Meet the professional standards set out by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC, pharmacists) or the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC, NMC registrants) to enable application for registration as an independent prescriber.

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of the course, all practitioners will be able to demonstrate the competencies detailed in A competency framework for all prescribers (RPS, 2021).

GPhC outcomes (for pharmacists)

At the point of qualification, pharmacist independent prescribers will also be able to:

Person-centred care

1. Recognise the psychological and physical impact of prescribing decisions on people
2. Understand and meet their legal responsibilities under equality and human rights legislation and respect diversity and cultural differences
3. Take responsibility for ensuring that person-centred care is not compromised because of personal values and beliefs
4. Demonstrate appropriate history-taking techniques through effective consultation skills
5. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of the prescriber in working in partnership with people who may not be able to make fully informed decisions about their health needs
6. Support individuals to make informed choices that respect people’s preference
7. critical understanding of their own role and the role of others in multi-professional teams

Professionalism

1. Recognise their own role as a responsible and accountable prescriber who understands legal and ethical implications
2. Apply relevant legislation and ethical frameworks related to prescribing, including remote prescribing and the handling and sharing of confidential information
3. Recognise and manage factors that may influence prescribing decisions
4. Apply local, regional and national guidelines, policies and legislation related to healthcare
5. Reflect on and develop their own prescribing practice to ensure it represents current best practice
6. Apply an understanding of health economics when making prescribing decisions
7. Understand the clinical governance of the prescriber, who may also be in a position to supply medicines to people
8. Recognise other professionals’ practice and raise concerns related to inappropriate or unsafe prescribing by other prescribers

Professional knowledge and skills

1. Apply evidence-based decision-making in all aspects of prescribing
2. Manage the risks and benefits associated with prescribing decisions
3. Demonstrate the application of pharmacology in relation to their own prescribing practice
4. Demonstrate clinical and diagnostic skills in clinical settings appropriate to their scope of practice
5. Create and maintain appropriate records which ensure safe and effective care and align with relevant legislation
6. Identify relevant investigations and interpret results and data in their prescribing practice
7. Utilise current and emerging systems and technologies in safe prescribing
8. Identify and respond to people’s needs when prescribing remotely
9. Apply the principles of effective monitoring and management to improve patient outcomes
10. Recognise and manage prescribing and medication errors
11. Recognise the public health issues in promoting health as part of their prescribing practice

Collaboration

1. Work collaboratively with others to optimise individuals’ care, understanding their roles in the prescribing process
2. Recognise their own role and responsibilities, and those of others, in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults
3. Recognise when and where to refer people appropriately
4. Collaborate with people to encourage them to take responsibility for managing care
5. Demonstrate appropriate consultation skills to get information from individuals who are either unaware of or guarded about their health needs, to inform safe prescribing
6. Recognise when to seek guidance from another member of the healthcare team or an appropriate authority

The Role of the Designated Prescribing Practitioner

Competencies for designated prescribing practitioners

The DPP is central to the student’s learning experience. Recent changes to regulatory standards have meant that trainee pharmacist prescribers and NMC registrants training to prescribe have different mentorship arrangements. We felt that it would be helpful to describe both here so that everyone has access to the information to understand the differences. You completed a declaration in relation to the eligibility criteria (section 2.4.1 of the student handbook) on your students’ application form.

Please note that the distinction lies in the registration of the trainee prescriber.

Pharmacists

Pharmacists have a Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP) who retains the primary responsibility for overall supervision and assessment while working in collaboration with academic and workplace partners. However, universities have different requirements in terms of how much of the period of learning in practice must be supervised by the DPP as opposed to other prescribers. At Manchester, we require that at least 45 hours are supervised by the DPP and the rest should be with a range of prescribers, ideally from different professions so that the student sees different approaches to similar tasks and receives feedback from a range of perspectives. All of the period of learning in practice must be undertaken with prescribers so that the learning can be contextualised to the prescribing process.

NMC registrants

NMC registrants have a Practice Assessor (PA), who must meet the same eligibility criteria as a pharmacist’s DPP as well as a few others that relate to the requirement to work in partnership with a Practice Supervisor. They must also have a Practice Supervisor (PS) who should not be the same person as the PA.

The Practice Assessor and Practice Supervisor work together to support the student. However, the PA retains the primary responsibility for the period of learning in practice and must work in collaboration with academic and workplace partners.

Universities have different requirements in terms of how much of the period of learning in practice must be supervised by the PA and PS. At Manchester, we require that between 15 and 30 hours are with the PA and at least 30 hours with the PS. The remaining hours should be with a range of prescribers, ideally from different professions, so that the student sees different approaches to similar tasks and receives feedback from a range of perspectives. All of the period of learning in practice must be undertaken with prescribers so that the learning can be contextualised to prescribing.

All students

The DPP/PA will facilitate the 90-hour period of learning in practice. This includes overseeing, supporting and assessing the student’s competence in clinical practice with patients in collaboration with academic and workplace partners.

A competency framework for designated prescribing practitioners (RPS, 2019) details the competencies required to be a DPP or Practice Assessor (PA), and that Practice Supervisors (PS) should be aiming to develop. It also uses designated prescribing practitioner as an umbrella term covering DPPs, PAs and PSs so we have done the same in places and used lowercase letters to distinguish it as an umbrella term. However, where their information relates only to the assessment or only to the learning support aspects of the role, we have separated the titles for clarity.

The role of the DPP involves:

• agreeing on a learning contract with the trainee prescriber
• planning a programme of learning in practice that will provide the opportunity for the trainee prescriber to meet their development needs and gain competency in prescribing
• facilitating learning by encouraging critical thinking and reflection
• providing dedicated time and opportunities for the trainee prescriber to observe how they conduct consultations with patients and their carers and the development of management plans
• allowing the trainee prescriber to carry out consultations, suggest management and prescribing options and plan follow-up
• helping the trainee prescriber to integrate theory with practice
• encouraging in-depth analysis of diagnostic and management approaches through case-based discussion
• providing timely feedback on highlights in performance and areas for improvement
• assessing progress and verifying that, by the end of the course, the trainee prescriber is competent to assume the prescribing role
• taking responsibility for signing off competencies
• working in collaboration with peers and the Academic Assessor to support the trainee prescriber
• maintain the suitability of the practice learning environments.

The role of the PA involves:

• agreeing on a learning contract with the trainee prescriber and Practice Supervisor
• planning a programme of learning in practice that will provide the opportunity for the trainee prescriber to meet their development needs and gain competency in prescribing
• facilitating learning by encouraging critical thinking and reflection
• providing dedicated time to observe and provide feedback to the trainee prescriber on highlights in performance and areas for improvement
• encouraging in-depth analysis of diagnostic and management approaches through case-based discussion
• assessing progress and verifying that, by the end of the course, the trainee prescriber is competent to assume the prescribing role
• taking responsibility for signing off competencies
• working in collaboration with the Practice Supervisor and the Academic Supervisor to support the trainee prescriber
• maintain the suitability of the practice learning environments.

The role of the PS role is different from the PA role, but has some overlap with the DPP role and involves:

• agreeing on a learning contract with the trainee prescriber and Practice Assessor
• planning a programme of learning in practice that will provide the opportunity for the trainee prescriber to meet their development needs and gain competency in prescribing
• facilitating learning by encouraging critical thinking and reflection
• providing dedicated time and opportunities for the trainee prescriber to observe how they conduct consultations with patients and their carers and the development of management plans
• allowing the trainee prescriber to carry out consultations, suggest management and prescribing options and plan follow-up
• helping the trainee prescriber to integrate theory with practice
• encouraging in-depth analysis of diagnostic and management approaches through case-based discussion
• providing timely feedback on highlights in performance and areas for improvement
• working in collaboration with peers and the Practice Assessor and Academic Assessor to support the trainee prescriber.

Supporting learning in practice

Students enrolled on this course are required to spend 90 hours of their learning time in practice. The primary role of the DPP/PA (and PS) is to guide and support the student throughout this period of learning in practice. The opportunity to work with an experienced prescriber who supports the student to develop an appropriate level of practice is highly valued by students. Students require standards of practice to be clear and appropriate for patient care and the DPP/PA (and PS) must support students in understanding the rigour required to ensure patient safety.

The course emphasizes integrating theory and practice, and in the broadest sense, the course has been divided into three main types of learning: knowledge, skills and attitudes/behaviours. The e-learning materials supporting the knowledge component of the course are available to students via the course e-learning site. This is reinforced and further developed during interactive activities such as discussion boards, webinars, tutorials and practice-based activities. The skills component is taught in theory using online resources, such as e-lectures, e-books and videos, but must be further developed during supervised practice. Attitudes are developed in the seminars, with the DPP/PA (and PS) and by the process of critical, reflective writing within the reflective practice portfolio.

As a result of their existing clinical role, students on the course will have a substantial level of transferable knowledge and skills and may already have some degree of competence with prescribing skills. Students are experienced practitioners and are expected to be able to identify and manage their own learning needs but to consult with and use the expertise of their DPP/PA (and PS) in shaping their learning experiences to meet the required competencies and standards. In other respects, students will require DPP/PA (and PS) support in progressing them through the stages of unconscious incompetence and conscious incompetence toward conscious competence in prescribing.

The DPP/PA (and PS) must facilitate the student learning experience by providing formative feedback throughout the course, discussing and negotiating a learning contract (see below) and supporting the student in attaining the skills and confidence to be a prescriber.

The DPP or PS also act as the student’s clinical supervisor, supporting the student in linking theory within the context of clinical practice. Students are encouraged to question practice and DPP/PSs must be willing to discuss and articulate their practice without feeling threatened. The University might prescribe specific activities for students and might advise timeframes, but we will not stipulate a schedule. We believe the DPP or PA/PS team are best placed to facilitate the most appropriate programme of learning for the student based on an agreed learning contract. Students will need to demonstrate learning from practice in a way that meets the competencies outlined in A competency framework for all prescribers (RPS, 2021) to complete the module assessments satisfactorily.

The learning contract

Each student has been asked to specify a narrow scope of practice on which they will focus during the course. This doesn’t limit their practice once qualified when they will be permitted to prescribe any medicine for any condition within the scope of their competence. However, there are at least four reasons for defining a narrow scope during the training period:

• to contain the workload by using one key area to exemplify the prescribing competencies
• to allow depth to the study, which affords confidence
• to ensure that they have a good level of transferable skills so that they can concentrate on developing the prescribing process rather than having to think about the clinical detail of their practice
• to demonstrate an awareness of their boundaries of competence and that they will act appropriately when they reach these boundaries.

We understand that this can be challenging, especially for practitioners working in generalist roles. However, experience and research indicate that it is a more effective way of learning the skills of the prescribing process and that it produces more confident prescribers. This scope of practice should be an area that they have at least one year’s clinical experience and should reflect where they intend to use their prescribing skills once qualified. And the techniques and tools that they use during the course will enable them to iteratively expand their scope of prescribing practice once qualified.

Once they have identified this narrow scope of practice, we ask them to identify their development needs and prepare a learning contract that details the actions, resources and timeframes for them to address these development needs. The process involves:

• using A competency framework for all prescribers (RPS, 2021) to identify existing knowledge and skills that simply need to be demonstrated and those that need to be developed
• agreeing with the DPP/PA (and PS) an action plan to address these development needs
• submitting this plan for feedback from their Academic Assessor
• reviewing the plan periodically to ensure progress
• signing off the plan when complete as part of the final sign-off of the practice assessment.

We also advise students to consider the learning contract as a schedule for their period of learning in practice so that they focus on the skills they need to develop and make the most efficient use of the time.

The learning contract should absolutely include the student observing experience prescribers, but they must make a swift transition to undertaking consultations under direct supervision, then indirect supervision and finally with a degree of autonomy.

While they should undertake all of the parts of the prescribing process to demonstrate progression and competence, they must not prescribe until they have successfully completed the course and registered as a prescriber with their regulator.

Student assessment in practice

The summative assessment of competence to practice will test underpinning knowledge, decision-making and application of theory to practice using:

• open book short answer questions
• objective structured clinical examination (OSCE)
• case presentation
• reflective practice portfolio.

While the DPP/PA (and PS) will support the development of the student’s knowledge, skills and behaviours towards all four assessments, the main direct involvement is with the reflective practice portfolio, which is the document through which their period of learning in practice is assessed. The student is responsible for ensuring that it is fully and accurately completed and presented when required for summative assessment. They should share their portfolio with you so that you can verify the clinical accuracy of the content as part of the practice assessment.

At the end of the module the student must hand in their e-portfolio that must contain:

• DPP/PA sign-off, ie, your assessment of their suitability for the award based on:
  • completion of the 90 hours’ learning in practice
  • demonstration of clinical competence in the period of learning in practice and the reflective practice portfolio
  • the skills demonstrated in practice confirm that they are suitable for annotation as an Independent Prescriber.
• a written record of three DPP meetings, ie, to agree on the learning contract, to complete the final practice/portfolio assessment and a midway assessment of progress
• learning contract
• reflective practice log
• personal formulary and critique of the evidence base
• service user feedback and reflection demonstrating learning from it
• history-taking feedback and reflection demonstrating learning from it
• clinical skills log and reflection on the development of them within the scope of practice
• case study presentation, anonymised prescription and case note entry associated with it.

The university will review the reflective practice portfolio and look for demonstration of evidence that:

• the development needs identified in the learning contract have been met
• the student has drawn on both practical and theoretical knowledge
• the student has critically reflected on their experiences and demonstrated development
• the student has demonstrated that they have met the prescribing competencies (RPS, 2021)
• the student has been an active learner and not just a passive observer.

The final responsibility for assessment of the portfolio sits with The University of Manchester, but the university’s interpretation of the portfolio relies heavily on an open and honest assessment of student performance by the DPP/PA. As such, the DPP/PA must make an honest and unbiased assessment of the student’s abilities to prescribe.

Information and training for DPPs, PAs and PSs

Handbook

A copy of the students’ handbook is provided to you. We recommend that you read this in conjunction with the student’s course handbook to orientate yourself to the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course. There is an emphasis throughout the course on enabling safe, rational prescribing and reflective clinical practice. The success of this relies heavily on a high level of commitment to the quality of supervision.

Induction and meetings

To ensure consistency and maintain quality of supervision in practice, we undertake an induction with all supervisors. In the past, this has been by webinar in advance of the course start date. However, this has proved to be a challenge to schedule at a time that avoids impact on patient care and practitioners’ time off-duty. We now offer a screencast with a transcripted copy of the presentation, which we hope will provide you with the information you need in a flexible format. We encourage you to contact us if you have any questions that aren’t answered by the course handbook or screencast and the student’s Academic Assessor and Programme Director will be in touch by email from time to time to let you know what’s happening and ensure that you are familiar with your roles.

Assessing progress

Progress meetings

You are required to meet with your student formally three times during the course, which will form part of the period of learning in practice:

• at the start of the course to agree and sign-off the learning contract
• at the mid-point of the course to review progress and adjust the learning contract if necessary
• at the end of the course to assess their suitability for the award.

These meetings have a set agenda, which is available in the PebblePad portfolio. However, they are flexible to the needs of the DPP/PA (and PS) and student relationship. The progress meetings provide an opportunity to review progress, resolve any issues or queries and support the student with their studies. It also helps to identify any issues with time management or meeting competencies at the earliest opportunity.

Following each progress meeting, students must document notes in their portfolio and the DPP/PA (and PS) must confirm their agreement.

Raising concerns

DPPs/PAs/PSs with a concern about a student’s progress on the course should, in the first instance, contact the student’s Academic Assessor who will have introduced themselves at the start of the course. This may be because a student is failing to progress to the expected standard or there are concerns about the student’s standards of practice. The Academic Assessor will escalate the concerns to the Programme Director if necessary. To offer the widest range of options, concerns should be raised at the earliest opportunity and the mid-point assessment may be a good time to consider the need for this course of action if there have been no earlier prompts.

Staff Contact Details

Academic support is always available to students and their DPP/PA (and PS) from the programme team by contacting their Academic Assessor in the first instance. If the student’s Academic Assessor is unavailable for any reason, please contact the Programme Director. Programme staff are always happy to answer any queries or questions.

Programme Director (lead for pharmacists) Dianne Bell

dianne.bell@manchester.ac.uk

Deputy Programme Director (lead for NMC registrants) Laura Green

laura.green-3@manchester.ac.uk

Support Staff

Postgraduate Programmes Team independent.prescribing@manchester.ac.uk

Blackboard® e-Learning Support University of Manchester e-learning team

elearning@manchester.ac.uk

NB None of the programme staff has telephone contact during off-campus cohorts. However, we can schedule MS Teams or Zoom meetings if required.