Designated Prescribing Practitioner

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A qualified healthcare professional who supervises, supports and assesses trainee non-medical prescribers during their period of learning in practice.

What is a Designated Prescribing Practitioner?

What is ?

A Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP) is a qualified and experienced healthcare professional who supervises trainee non-medical prescribers during their clinical training. Introduced in 2019, DPPs replaced the previous Designated Medical Practitioner role, expanding eligibility to non-medical prescribers with appropriate experience. DPPs provide vital mentorship, ensuring trainees develop competence and confidence in prescribing within their scope of practice, while maintaining patient safety standards throughout the NHS and Primary Care Networks.

Designated Prescribing Practitioner Best Practices

What is ?

  • Maintain regular structured supervision sessions with trainee prescribers, providing detailed feedback on prescribing decisions
  • Document learning progress meticulously against the competency framework
  • Create opportunities for trainees to observe varied prescribing scenarios within the PCN
  • Collaborate with academic institutions to ensure alignment between theoretical learning and practical application
  • Engage in continuous professional development to maintain current knowledge of prescribing guidelines and legislation

Use Designated Prescribing Practitioner in a Sentence

What is ?

  1. Dr. Thompson, an experienced pharmacist prescriber, serves as the Designated Prescribing Practitioner for three trainee prescribers within our Primary Care Network.
  2. As a Designated Prescribing Practitioner, I'm responsible for signing off on the competency of trainee prescribers before they can qualify to prescribe independently.
  3. The clinical director emphasized the importance of having sufficient Designated Prescribing Practitioners across the PCN to support workforce development goals.
Frequently Asked Questions about
Designated Prescribing Practitioner

What does Designated Prescribing Practitioner mean?

A Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP) is a qualified healthcare professional who supervises, supports, and assesses trainee non-medical prescribers during their period of learning in practice. They provide guidance and oversight to ensure trainees develop the necessary skills and knowledge to prescribe safely and effectively within their professional scope once qualified.

Who can become a Designated Prescribing Practitioner in a Primary Care Network?

Since 2019, any healthcare professional who is an experienced independent prescriber can become a Designated Prescribing Practitioner. This includes pharmacists, nurses, physiotherapists, paramedics, and other allied health professionals who have been qualified prescribers for at least three years, actively prescribing in their practice area, and completed appropriate training for the DPP role. This expanded eligibility replaced the previous requirement for Medical Practitioners only.

What are the responsibilities of a Designated Prescribing Practitioner in Primary Care?

Designated Prescribing Practitioners in Primary Care have several key responsibilities: providing regular supervised practice sessions for trainees; assessing prescribing competencies against the relevant framework; offering constructive feedback; creating learning opportunities relevant to the trainee's future prescribing role; maintaining appropriate documentation of the trainee's progress; liaising with academic institutions; and ultimately determining whether the trainee has achieved the required competencies to prescribe safely.

How is the Designated Prescribing Practitioner role different from the previous Designated Medical Practitioner role?

The Designated Prescribing Practitioner role, introduced in 2019, represents a significant evolution from the previous Designated Medical Practitioner role. The key difference is that DPPs can be any qualified independent prescriber with appropriate experience, not just doctors. This change was implemented to address workforce challenges, increase training capacity for non-medical prescribers, and recognize the expertise of experienced non-medical prescribers in supervising others. The fundamental responsibilities of supervision and assessment remain similar.

What training is required to become a Designated Prescribing Practitioner in a PCN?

To become a Designated Prescribing Practitioner in a PCN, individuals must complete specific preparation for the role, which typically includes: understanding the DPP framework published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society; training in assessment of competence; knowledge of relevant prescribing competency frameworks; supervision skills; feedback techniques; and understanding the academic requirements of non-medical prescribing courses. Many higher education institutions offer dedicated DPP training courses, and PCNs may provide additional support for this professional development.

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