Rapid upskilling support

Bondholder the University of Derby is providing a free online educational and information resource aimed at supporting pharmacists who have been redeployed to NHS 111 services.

To support the rapid upskilling of pharmacists supporting the NHS 111 COVID-19 Clinical Assessment Service (CAS), and in response to positive feedback from Integrated Urgent Care (IUC) pharmacy leads about the University of Derby’s full Integrated IUC CAS pharmacist course, two of the course’s three modules have been made available online for free, aiming to introduce pharmacists to the IUC setting.

Professor Kathryn Mitchell DL, Vice-Chancellor of the University, said: “As part of civic responsibilities, it is essential that we do all we can to support the brave and dedicated medical teams delivering care to those who have contracted, or who are showing symptoms, of the virus.

“Hundreds of our second and third year nursing and allied healthcare professions students are already supporting staff on the frontline in hospitals across the region, and we have donated thousands of items of PPE kit.

“This online course, which has been developed and made available to redeployed pharmacists for free, is another example of how the University is using the resources, skills and knowledge at our disposal to support the amazing work being done during these challenging times.”

NHS England and NHS Improvement, in partnership with Health Education England (HEE), first commissioned the University of Derby to develop and deliver an Integrated Urgent Care Clinical Assessment Service (IUC CAS) pharmacist programme 18 months ago.

More information can be found here.