Teaching and mentoring

Mentorship for new pharmacists to help develop their generalist skills

NHS England introduced a Structured Medication Review (SMR) service within Primary Care Networks (PCNs), to address problematic polypharmacy, reduce avoidable hospitalisations and deliver better value from medicines spending. New pharmacists who lacked patient-facing expertise were found to draw on pre-existing frameworks and templates, lacking the skills and experience to deliver holistic reviews, meaning opportunities for shared-decision making were potentially missed.

New pharmacists require support to develop their skills working beyond guidelines and to share decision making with patients before they can deliver effective SMRs. Could they be supported and mentored by pharmacists with more general practice experience within your PCN, or could complex reviews be discussed with a GP mentor initially to facilitate the development of these skills in pharmacists who are new to practice?