Health Education England has said it will roll out a series of training modules this month to help community pharmacists improve their clinical examination and consultation skills so they can better assess, treat and manage common health problems.

The NHS-funded training scheme, which offers 10,000 module places, will be provided by the healthcare training company CliniSkills until next March. HEE said the programme is designed to complement pharmacists’ independent prescribing training and can be completed before or after an independent prescribing course.

The training modules, which will be offered as part of the pharmacy integration programme, focuses on four areas; dermatology, cardiology, paediatrics and ear, nose and throat. As part of the training, HEE said pharmacists will complete an “online gateway module on history-taking and identification of serious conditions” then choose one of the four modules.

“The module content will be delivered online using a flexible and responsive eLearning system, with optional face-to-face attendance for pharmacists who would find this beneficial,” HEE said.

“Pharmacists can complete the training at a pace and time of their choice. Face-to-face workshops will be scheduled to accommodate pharmacist working patterns.”

HEE said the training was timely given “people increasingly choose to visit community pharmacy for clinical care from a pharmacist,” citing the over-40s NHS blood pressure check service and community pharmacist consultation service via general practice and urgent and emergency care settings as examples.

“I’m delighted we’re launching the next phase of the pharmacy integration programme training and development for community pharmacists. It’s exciting to see how this is developing into specialist areas such as cardiology, which matches with our future plans,” said the chief pharmaceutical officer David Webb.

“The offer of clinical examination skills training supports the clinical future and career progression for pharmacists, either as a skills’ refresh for existing prescribers who wish to extend their practice, or to help pharmacists support newly qualified prescribers, or as a step towards independent prescribing training.”