Middlesex Development and Introduction of A New Role: The Community Pharmacy Practice Manager (CPPM)

The role of community pharmacists has transformed and expanded to deliver a range of services requiring careful planning and implementation. The recently published NHS Long Term Workforce Plan describes the changes needed to expand the pharmacy workforce, including better use of skill mix, thus recognising the current pressure faced by the profession. To address these challenges, a new role of Community Pharmacy Practice Manager (CPPM) has been proposed. CPPMs will manage service uptake, compliance, and governance, allowing pharmacists to focus on clinical care. This will improve service delivery, workforce sustainability, and patient outcomes, supporting the NHS workforce strategy.

This project aims to develop a training pathway to train individuals to become Community Pharmacy Practice Managers (CPPM). Five pilot pharmacy sites will be identified to upskill current members of the non- clinical team to this new role. Onboarded individuals will undergo bespoke training with a focus on improving services’ provision and increasing understanding of compliance and governance. The pilot will be evaluated using a mixed methods approach of data collection, to understand the drivers and barriers of incorporating CPPM in every pharmacy to improve service delivery.

The objectives of the project are to:

The National Pharmacy Association

North Central London ICB

The West London Research Network (WeLReN) hosted at imperial College London