PGCert INDEPENDENT AND SUPPLEMENTARY PRESCRIBING FOR ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

Application requirements

1. Confirm you meet the professional entry requirements:

• You must be registered with the HCPC in one of the relevant Allied Health Professions (physiotherapists, podiatrists, therapeutic radiographers, paramedics, diagnostic radiographers, dietitians).
• You are normally expected to have at least three years relevant post-qualification experience in the clinical area in which you will be prescribing.
• You must be working at an advanced practitioner or equivalent level.
• You must be professionally practising in an environment where there is an identified need for you to regularly use independent or supplementary prescribing.
• You must be able to demonstrate support from your employer/sponsor including confirmation you will have appropriate supervised practice in the clinical area in which you are expected to prescribe.
• You must be able to demonstrate medicines and clinical governance arrangements are in place to support safe and effective independent or supplementary prescribing.
• You must be able to demonstrate how you reflect on your own performance and take responsibility for your own Continuing Professional Development (CPD) including development of networks for support, reflection and learning.

2. Applicants must have a Designated Prescribing Practitioner, the DPP, (also called a practice educator) to support their learning, this is an HCPC requirement. Information about the role is available in the document below. It is the responsibility of the applicant to secure this support, you should only apply once you have agreement to support you from the nominated DPP.

• Information on the role of the DPP

3. You should confirm you are able to attend all the study days using the enrolment timetable in the upcoming cohort enrolment information. If you are unable to attend all of the study days, your success in gaining a place on the course may be affected — please consider applying for the next cohort.

4. Complete a statement of purpose.

5. Prepare the following documents, as you will need to provide all of these documents during the application process:

• DPP declaration
• Workplace-based learning declaration
• Applicant checklist
• If you are being part or fully sponsored: Proof of funding (some NHS organisations require a Purchase Order number for the payment of invoices. This must be stated on this letter to ensure invoices are paid promptly).
• If you are self-funding, or doing your learning in practice hours with an organisation who is not your employer, the Self-funding declaration.

How to apply:

To apply to the programme, you need to use the University's online portal.

6. Access the online application portal.

All communication from the application system is via automated email. Some National Health Service (NHS) email servers flag these email addresses as spam, therefore we recommend using a personal email address to ensure you receive all communications at this stage.

Once you have started an application, the system will email you to remind you to start, and/or complete, your application at regular intervals. If your account is flagged as dormant for three or more weeks, your application may be automatically removed.

7. Once you have created an account, select your programme choice from the drop-down menu:

• PGCert Independent and Supplementary Prescribing for Allied Health Professionals (part time)
• PGCert Supplementary Prescribing for Allied Health Professionals (part time)

8. Complete all the required fields (marked with an asterix *) and upload all of the documents stated above (step 4 and 5).

Make sure you upload your statement of purpose to the 'statement of purpose' field in the application portal.

The application portal cannot accept multiple uploads. Therefore, you will need to scan the documents from step 5 into one document. If you are supplying a transcript, you can submit your combined documents to the 'other' field. If you are not supplying a transcript, you can submit your combined documents into the compulsory 'transcript' field instead of a transcript. Failure to submit all of the required documentation in a timely manner may affect our decision whether to accept you on the course.

9. References

Once you have submitted an application, an automatic email will be sent to your referees (if you have provided an email address for them). It is your responsibility to make sure that your referee supplies a reference. We would therefore advise that you contact them in advance of submitting an application so that they have time to prepare a reference. Please also note that emails from the application system may be sent to their 'spam' folder, which they should check if they have not received the email when expected.

If you have completed postgraduate study, you should provide details of one academic and one non-academic referee. If you have not completed postgraduate study, you can provide details of two non-academic referees. A suitable non-academic referee is typically a past or current employer, or a formal workplace-based supervisor such as a practice assessor or practice supervisor.

10. Attending an interview

As part of the application process, students may be asked to attend an interview.  This enables us to determine your suitability for the programme against the entry criteria and find out further information about your experience. The provisional interview dates are stated above under the upcoming cohort enrolment information.  Interviews will take place at the University of Reading but if you are unable to attend in person, it may be possible to arrange a telephone/Skype call instead.

11. The outcome of your application

Applications are reviewed throughout the year. However, the greater the number of applications we receive, the longer it may take to inform you of the outcome. Applicants cannot enroll until all the documentation is received and an unconditional offer is made, the usual deadline for this is two weeks before the start of the programme.  Therefore, at the latest, we will notify successful applicants two weeks before the start of the programme.

Due to the high volume of applications we are receiving at present, we are unable to provide individualised feedback if you are unsuccessful.

Please note

The fees listed above are for courses starting in September 2021, February and May 2022. 

Financial support for your studies

Applicants can be fully or partly sponsored by their employer to undertake the programme. There is information on how to provide proof of sponsorship in the 'Entry requirements' section above.

For all other potential HEE sponsorship/commissioned options, you should contact your local HEE Branch Educational Commission Manager.

Our programmes are focused on developing your professional competence and confidence. Network with other healthcare professionals from a range of employers and sectors to help identify future career options. The academic credits from this programme can also be used towards our MSc in Advancing Healthcare Practice qualification.

We also offer a Certificate in Advanced History Taking and Clinical Assessment, a three month module which can be studied before or after the prescribing programme. Please contact cippet@reading.ac.uk for more information. 

We can also offer advice to help you meet your professional regulator revalidation requirements and/or leadership body credentialing processes and support you in building a personal learning plan to enhance your career prospects.