The final report from the Pharmacy Support Staff Apprenticeships Scoping Review is available to download below. This scoping work, carried out across London and South East (LaSE) between February and April 2016, sought to explore and define key stakeholder perceptions and experiences of pharmacy support staff (pharmacy assistant) apprenticeships across sectors. The findings were considered against a backdrop of current and future funding environments and pharmacy workforce challenges in a shifting NHS and healthcare landscape. 

Resulting conclusions and recommendations are informing work already commenced to identify, evaluate and select strategic option/s for how Health Education England will support education provision of the pharmacy support staff workforce across London and South East going forward. Decision making is scheduled to conclude by the end of September 2016 and stakeholders will be briefed on the outcome through our pharmacy networks by the end of December 2016. 

Our stakeholders will be supported to ensure full implementation of the resulting strategy across the region by September 2017. Laura McEwen-Smith would like to extend her thanks to all stakeholders that gave their time to participate in the interviews and focus groups. If you would like more information about the London and South East Pharmacy Support Staff Apprenticeship Strategy, please contact Laura McEwen-Smith.