Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of Designated Prescribing Practitioners for all foundation pharmacists starting their training in 2025.

Every foundation trainee pharmacist that has graduated against the 2021 standards for the initial education and training of pharmacists will require a Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP), a healthcare professional with independent prescribing rights, for example, a doctor, pharmacist, or nurse, during their foundation training period to support the supervision and assessment of prescribing activities.

Under the terms of the Foundation Trainee Pharmacists National Recruitment Scheme, training providers are required to ensure that the trainee will have access to a DPP. Providers are also required to submit details of the DPP to NHS England once the trainee pharmacist commences in post. Trainee pharmacists in England start their foundation training in the 2025/26 year in two windows: 14 July 2025 to 4 August 2025, summer; and 20 October 2025 to 10 November 2025, autumn.

To support the development of DPP capacity, NHS England continues to engage with training providers and invest in training for independent prescribers. From September 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists will be independent prescribers on the day of their registration, which will expand future availability of healthcare professionals who are qualified to become a DPP.