The aim of the Postgraduate Diploma in General Pharmacy Practice (DipGPP) is to equip practitioners with the core skills and competencies they require to provide pharmaceutical care in a practice setting. The course works on a philosophy of student centred workplace learning. The ethos and culture of the. course is to enhance and develop self reliance and an adult approach to learning in support of continuing professional development

The JPB has reformed the education system for pharmacy practitioners. It is a collaborative, between the NHS pharmacy services and the local Schools of Pharmacy, which ensures that the training of pharmacists meets the modern requirements of the NHS to be “fit for practice” in order to provide consistently high quality patient care.

It is a collaborative which improves the knowledge and skills of pharmacists across the London, Eastern and South East National Health Service geography and thereby the quality of pharmaceutical care offered to patients and the public. The collaborative consists of academic and NHS partners and is supported by the Deans and Heads of Schools of Pharmacy and the Director of Specialist Pharmacy Services across the locality. The role of the JPB is to provide the infrastructure to ensure the supply of pharmacists, working in institutions providing NHS services, who are educated and motivated to deliver high quality pharmaceutical services for NHS patients.

Until recently, there was no current systematic provision of postgraduate education for pharmacy practitioners in England. This poses a significant problem for career development, which in turn impacts on health care reform policy, improved provision of public health and patient safety. The level of currently available post-registration pharmacy education has evolved from the need for development of clinical pharmacist skills and knowledge.
The JPB is responsible for the planning, design and infrastructure of the new Postgraduate Diploma (DipGPP) award, and has invested in the latest IT systems to ensure that practitioners have better access to educational support as they plan and participate in formal post-registration education.

Registration, student progress, milestones, assessments and the eventual award are facilitated by e-supported learning systems that will negate traditional notions of boundaries, borders and geography.

The JPB has established an educational delivery infrastructure to allow implementation and delivery of new practitioner programme. 

This infrastructure:

• Enables access for all post-registration pharmacy student-practitioners in the locality covered by the JPB;
• Uses contemporary methods for the delivery, administration and quality assurance of the programme which support the work-based philosophy of the approach and operationalise continuing professional development;
• Develops realistic work-based formal education systems;
• Operationalises continuing professional development;
• Establishes a post-registration education structure for student-practitioners that is fit for purpose in relation to modern working practices and policies within the health care and HE sectors. The aim of this is to directly improve standards of care within health care systems, and increase the competence of pharmacy practitioners at the start of their careers;
• Is cost effective.

To contact the JPB please see email information on our contact page