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The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in England and the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) have jointly released a report addressing the challenges faced by community pharmacy when accessing designated prescribing practitioners (DPPs). This report is the outcome of a multiprofessional roundtable event held in June, which brought together representatives from employers, unions, regulators, and NHS England. The report proposes solutions and collaborative actions to build on the current work to support pharmacists and trainees in securing access to a DPP, enabling more of the pharmacy workforce to become prescribers. James Davies, RPS Director for England, said: "The report published today demonstrates the importance of working collaboratively across employers, education training providers and the NHS to ensure that we can create the prescribers that our patients need for the future. "While there is significant work to continue to do by all parties, this helps us come closer to addressing some of the current DPP challenges for community pharmacy."

The Company Chemists' Association (CCA) has raised concern that pharmacies may face challenges in providing placements to pharmacy students graduating in 2025 due to shortages of designated prescribing practitioners (DPPs). From the academic year 2025/26, all pharmacy students will be required to complete 90 hours of training with designated prescribing practitioners prior to their registration. However, the CCA has raised doubts regarding the availability of these healthcare professionals to provide such training. The association said: "We are concerned that pharmacies will be unable to secure DPPs. This will result in a significant reduction in the number of Foundation Pharmacist placements available within the community pharmacy sector. Consequently, a significant number of graduates leaving university next year will, unfortunately, struggle to find employment in their chosen career." As per the CCA, they have repeatedly raised their concerns with NHS England and cautioned them about the potential consequences arising from the lack of DPPs.

Many community pharmacists are keen to pursue independent prescribing training, but the lack of access to placements, supervisors, and adequate financial support remains a challenge. In a significant development, the government has announced the nationwide expansion of the 'Teach and Treat' clinics pilot to assist pharmacists in becoming independent prescribers (IPs). Initially piloted in the South West, this initiative allowed many community pharmacists to gain practice-based learning, with supervision from an experienced prescriber called a Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP). This expansion was confirmed in the government's response to the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) pharmacy inquiry, published on 10 January 2025. The initiative is described as "an effective way to create designated DPP capacity and grow the number of pharmacist independent prescribers." The expansion of the Teach and Treat clinics will be facilitated through the Pharmacy Integration Fund in 2024-25.