Whilst the newly registered pharmacist workforce will be independent prescribers from August 2026, the current workforce will be required to undertake a prescribing course, offered from a range of universities, to be able to prescribe. HEIW are committed to supporting the development of the pharmacist workforce to become prescribers, so funding has been allocated to support the pharmacists working in patient facing roles to undertake this training, to enable the continued development of pharmacy services to support the population of Wales.

Each year HEIW Pharmacy secures funding for pharmacists to undertake this training. These funded places on prescribing courses will be fairly allocated across Wales for all sectors of practice. All registered pharmacy professionals who provide public facing services from a community pharmacy or GP practice (including self-employed locums) can apply for funding to support them to undertake an independent prescribing course, if eligible:

Pharmacists must:

• have completed the Welsh NCSA generic skills and competency accreditation
• be employed in a community pharmacy or GP practice within Wales OR must have provided clinical community pharmacy services to patients in Wales for at least 100 days in the past year (this can be evidenced through Choose Pharmacy records of service provision)
• have the support of an identified designated prescribing practitioner (DPP)
• have a commitment to use the skill within their area of competence and expertise, for the delivery of NHS Wales clinical services.

They should not apply for funding until you have a DPP in place, as HEIW will not allocate any funding without a named DPP in place.

For those community pharmacists who are employed by a specific Welsh pharmacy, HEIW also has training grants of £3000 available to provide your employer with some funding to employ a locum to cover your release from the workplace to undertake the supervision in practice that all prescribing courses require and £3000 to support DPP support.

Applications should be submitted by 19th May. HEIW will then review these applications against the funding available and inform the applicant of the outcome of their application by 1st June. Those who have successfully secured funding will be supplied with a sponsorship letter from HEIW. Pharmacists will also need to apply directly to the Higher Education Institute in order to secure a place on the course and should not wait for the outcomes of their funding application, due to a variety of closing dates for applications.

After the initial allocation of funding in June, pharmacists can continue to apply for funding, if not all the funding has been allocated.

You can find the application form for funding here.