Pharmacy training

We pride ourselves on having a 'fit for practice' workforce through the education, training and development opportunities given to all pharmacy staff.

The continuing professional and personal development of our staff is taken very seriously within the Pharmacy department, and staff are encouraged to undertake training courses and further professional qualifications.
 
We employ teacher practitioner pharmacists, and have a number of designated supervisors supporting trainee pharmacists, together with an educational programme director overseeing foundation year training.

Many of our senior and chief pharmacy technicians are trained as clinical and educational supervisors.

In recent years, at least a quarter of our staff have been studying for a recognised qualification at any given time.

Foundation training year

At UHDB, we believe in investing in our future workforce and have spent a lot of time developing our training programmes to maximise the opportunities that we provide for our trainees. All programmes that we offer are clinically focussed, with an emphasis on developing knowledge and skills throughout.

 For the 2025 intake of pharmacist foundation trainees, the Pharmacy department will be taking seven full year trainee pharmacists (six based at the Royal Derby Hospital, one at Queen's Hospital Burton), alongside four multi-sector training programmes (two at Derby and two at Burton) that are joint hosted with community pharmacies Dean and Smedley >, Peak Pharmacy > and Evans Pharmacy >.

 We offer our revolutionary "5-6-7" automatic progression programme for our full year trainees, and trainees who are based at UHDB for 6 months or longer. Trainees on the 5-6-7 Programme are employed on a permanent, rather than temporary basis, and provided they progress through their foundation programme satisfactorily and meet key criteria, they will automatically move onto a band 6 pharmacist post when they register, and then can continue on the programme until band 7.

 This has enormous benefits for both the trainee and the Trust. It gives the trainee the security at the outset that they are valued and that they have their next job ready and waiting for them. Automatic progression also avoids the trainees having to go through multiple recruitment processes at a critical time in their training year which could otherwise be stressful. For ourselves at the Trust it means we can retain the highly skilled staff that we have invested in.

 We are in the process of developing a comprehensive prescribing training plan for our trainees, which will be tested with the 2024-2025 foundation trainees ready for use for 2025-2026. This will include access to an onsite designated prescribing practitioner for each trainee, and opportunities to spend prescribing practice hours with medical, pharmacist, and other non-medical prescribers.

 All programmes are aligned to the GPhC Standards for the initial education and training of pharmacists and the registration assessment framework. Regular clinical seminars are held for all trainees at our RDH site, usually delivered by our specialist pharmacists. Directed study-time is also provided, which sits alongside clinical experience in a variety of rotations.


Rotations include:

  • Clinical specialities (ward based rotations & tutorials)
  • Medicine - including cardiology & coronary care, respiratory, gastrointestinal, liver, renal, care of the frail elderly
  • Surgery - including trauma & orthopaedics, bariatric surgery, vascular surgery, ear nose and throat and maxillofacial
  • Paediatrics - including paediatric high dependency and neonatal intensive care
  • Obstetrics and gynaecology
  • Critical care
  • Oncology and haematology wards and day-case unit
  • Medicines Information: all trainees learn to answer enquiries independently.
  • Logistics: a short rotation to increase understanding of the provision of drugs to clinical areas
  • Dispensary, including inpatients, outpatients, discharges and specialist chemotherapy areas
  • Aseptic production
  • Cross sector experience - 2 week placements in community are available for those who do not have a 3 or 6 month multi-sector rotation.

 

Download Royal Derby Hospital Sample Timetable [pdf] 490KB


Applications should be made by visiting the Oriel website >.

Open afternoons

The Pharmacy department holds open afternoons each autumn to enable those who are considering undertaking their foundation training programme here to see the department before they have to preference places in Oriel. This is aimed predominantly at students who are just starting their fourth year, however we do welcome students of any year coming to join the afternoon.

The usual format includes a breakdown of the programmes offered by an education and training pharmacist, talks about roles from specialist pharmacists, a department tour and opportunities to chat with current trainees.


At Royal Derby Hospital

Date: 12 September 2024
Time: 2.30pm - 5pm

Date: 19 September 2024
Time: 2.30pm - 5pm

Please email sophia.feret@nhs.net to book a place.


At Queen's Hospital Burton

Please email joanna.hurcombe@nhs.net for more information. 

Summer placement

We currently run a three day Summer Placement Programme for undergraduate pharmacy students each year. Priority is given to third year students, but other year groups may also apply. The three day placement consists of ward shadowing and experiencing the different areas of the department. Applications will open in the autumn and must be submitted by 28 February 2025.

Post-graduate pharmacist training and development

Newly qualified pharmacists are currently offered the opportunity to undertake further study with De Montfort University, Leicester, and Keele University, who both currently offer a Post Graduate Certificate, Diploma and MSc in Clinical Pharmacy.

These courses offer the opportunity to complete an Independent Prescribing (IP) qualification. All pharmacists who have not yet completed IP training, and wish to, are supported and encouraged to complete this qualification.

Assistant technical officer & senior assistant technical officer

Senior assistant technical officers and assistant technical officers work alongside pharmacy technicians and under the supervision of a registered pharmacist.

Here at UHDB, as a pharmacy assistant, there are opportunities to work towards a QCF (NVQ) Level Two Qualification in Pharmacy Service Skills, and also complete a certificate in pharmaceutical science. With experience and achievement in relevant qualifications, it is possible to progress to senior pharmacy assistant roles and gain access to the pre-registration trainee Pharmacy Technician Training Program.