Published: 27/02/25

Congratulations to everyone who has recently passed their IP Courses. Well done! 

Once you have had the chance to celebrate, here are some details for next steps.

• The Universities will confirm your qualification with the GPhC 

• You need to contact the GPhC to arrange to pay the relevant fees. 

• Contact the Community Pharmacy Lead at your NHS Board. Details can be found at Community Pharmacy – A hub for all information relating to community pharmacy 

• They will order your Rx Pads; these are printed on a 6-week cycle for all new prescribers (one week CP, one optom etc) so depending on where the cycle is, the Rx can take up to 8 weeks to arrive. Please be patient - we know you want your Rx asap. Ways to speed this up have been investigated, but there is no immediate, faster solution. 

• They will also let you know of local arrangements and requirements for sign off; these are Board specific and form part of the Board Governance of the service. This has to be completed before you can start delivering the service. 

• Let the relevant people in the pharmacy where you work know, so any specific arrangements they have can get underway. If your pharmacy does not already offer the service, once you are ready to start delivering, the sign up to the service needs to be completed. The details can be found in this circular -Primary and Community Care Directorate 

• For Clinical Skills and Teach & Treat Courses 

You do not need to take any action currently.  

As per the NHS Pharmacy First Plus service specification, pharmacists undertaking independent prescribing training courses are offered a one-day consultation skills course, two days clinical assessment skills course and a common clinical conditions application to practice module. Invitations to attend are based on university course cohorts and pharmacists should wait to be invited to attend. Many of you will have already completed some or all of these courses. 

Teach & Treat Session are completed after the Clinical Skills days, and details will be sent directly to you from NES in the coming weeks. 

 If you have any questions, please contact us on enquiries@cps.scot.