Standards for prescribing

A.1  The admissions process must give both the applicant and the education provider the information they require to make an informed choice about whether to take up or make an offer of a place on a programme.

A.2  The selection and entry criteria must include appropriate academic and professional entry standards.

A.3  There must be an appropriate and effective process for assessing applicants’ prior learning and experience.

A.4  The education provider must ensure that there are equality and diversity policies in relation to applicants and that they are implemented and monitored.

B.1  The programme must be sustainable and fit for purpose.

B.2  The programme must be effectively managed.

B.3  The education provider must ensure that the person holding overall professional responsibility for the programme is appropriately qualified and experienced and, unless other arrangements are appropriate, on the register of their statutory regulator.

B.4  The programme must have regular and effective monitoring and evaluation systems in place.

B.5  There must be regular and effective collaboration between the education provider and practice education providers.

B.6  There must be an effective process in place to ensure the availability and capacity of practice-based learning for all learners.

B.7  Service users and carers must be involved in the programme.

B.8  Learners must be involved in the programme.

B.9  There must be an adequate number of appropriately qualified and experienced and, where appropriate, registered staff in place to deliver an effective programme.

B.10  Subject areas must be delivered by educators with relevant specialist expertise and knowledge.

B.11  An effective programme must be in place to ensure the continuing professional and academic development of educators, appropriate to their role in the programme.

B.12  The resources to support learning in all settings must be effective and appropriate to the delivery of the programme, and must be accessible to all learners and educators.

B.13  There must be effective and accessible arrangements in place to support the wellbeing and learning needs of learners in all settings.

B.14  The programme must implement and monitor equality and diversity policies in relation to learners.

B.15  There must be a thorough and effective system in place for receiving and responding to learner complaints.

B.16  There must be thorough and effective systems in place for ensuring the ongoing suitability of learners’ conduct, character and health.

B.17  There must be an effective process in place to support and enable learners to raise concerns about the safety and wellbeing of service users.

B.18  The education provider must ensure learners, educators and others are aware that only successful completion of an approved programme leads to eligibility for annotation of a learners’ entry on the Register.

C.1  The learning outcomes must ensure that learners meet the standards set out in the Competency Framework for all Prescribers, as appropriate to the prescribing mechanism(s)* delivered by the programme.

C.2  The learning outcomes must ensure that learners understand and are able to meet the expectations of professional behaviour in prescribing practice, including the standards of conduct, performance and ethics.

C.3  The programme must reflect the philosophy, core values, skills and knowledge base as articulated in any relevant curriculum guidance.

C.4  The curriculum must remain relevant to current practice.

C.5  Integration of theory and practice must be central to the programme.

C.6  The learning and teaching methods used must be appropriate to the effective delivery of the learning outcomes.

C.7  The delivery of the programme must support and develop autonomous and reflective thinking.

C.8  The delivery of the programme must support and develop evidence-based practice.

C.9  The programme must include an effective process for obtaining appropriate consent from service users and learners.

C.10  The education provider must identify and communicate to learners the parts of the programme where attendance is mandatory, and must have associated monitoring processes in place.

*By ‘prescribing mechanisms’, we mean independent or supplementary prescribing.

D.1  Practice based-learning must be integral to the programme.

D.2  The structure, duration and range of practice-based learning must support the achievement of the learning outcomes and the standards set out in the Single Competency Framework for all Prescribers, as appropriate to the prescribing mechanism* delivered by the programme.

D.3  The education provider must maintain a thorough and effective system for approving and ensuring the quality of practice-based learning.

D.4  Practice-based learning must take place in a setting that is safe and supportive for learners and service users.

D.5  There must be an adequate number of appropriately qualified and experienced and, where appropriate, registered staff involved in practice-based learning.

D.6  Practice educators must be a qualified prescriber, on the register of their statutory regulator with annotation(s) for prescribing where applicable and with the relevant skills, knowledge and experience to support safe and effective learning.

D.7  Practice educators must undertake regular training which is appropriate to their role, learners’ needs and the delivery of the learning outcomes of the programme.

D.8  Learners and practice educators must have the information they need in a timely manner in order to be prepared for practice based-learning.

*By ‘prescribing mechanisms’, we mean independent or supplementary prescribing.

E.1  The assessment strategy and design must ensure that those who successfully complete the programme meet the standards set out in the Competency Framework for all Prescribers, as appropriate to the prescribing mechanism1 delivered by the programme.

E.2  Assessment throughout the programme must ensure that learners demonstrate they are able to meet the expectations of professional behaviour, including the standards of conduct, performance and ethics.

E.3  Assessments must provide an objective, fair and reliable measure of learners’ progression and achievement.

E.4  Assessment policies must clearly specify requirements for progression and achievement within the programme.

E.5  The assessment methods used must be appropriate to, and effective at, measuring the learning outcomes.

E.6  There must be effective processes in place for learners to make academic appeals.

E.7  The education provider must ensure that at least one external examiner for the programme is an appropriately qualified and experienced prescriber and on the register of their statutory regulator with annotation(s) for prescribing where applicable.

A CMP is a written plan agreed between a doctor or dentist and a supplementary prescriber for the treatment of a named service user, with the knowledge and agreement of the service user and/or carer. The plan outlines the illnesses or conditions that may be treated by the supplementary prescriber, the types of medicines they may prescribe any limits to the strength or dose of medicines that they may prescribe.

Independent prescribing is prescribing by a practitioner, who is responsible and accountable for the assessment of service users with undiagnosed or diagnosed conditions and for decisions about the clinical management required. An independent prescriber is able to prescribe on their own initiative any medicine within their scope of practice and relevant legislation.

Supplementary prescribing is a voluntary partnership between a doctor or dentist and a supplementary prescriber to prescribe within an agreed service user-specific clinical management plan (CMP). Once qualified a supplementary prescriber may prescribe any medicine within their clinical competence, within the limits of the CMP.