Evaluation of the Specialist Mental Health Pharmacist Training Pathway
Community based mental health teams work with patients struggling with mental health issues – and work with many more than are supported in hospitals. People with mental health conditions often have other health-related issues at the same time. Getting the right mix of medications requires specialist pharmacological knowledge, and working with patients with severe mental ill health requires specific skills.
The NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan sets out the commitment to improving and expanding mental health services across England, including supporting a cadre of new specialist mental health pharmacists (SMHP).
In 2021, NHS England (NHSE) launched a training programme specially designed to support specialist mental health pharmacists working as part of community mental health teams. SQW worked with NHSE and their delivery partner at the University of Bradford to evaluate the training programme’s implementation and impact.
We found that feedback about the quality of the course, its leadership, materials and learning model was very positive. Almost all participants interviewed reported that their experiences had improved their confidence in key aspects of the SMHP role. The most commonly reported area of improvement was improved confidence when interacting with patients, and some participants said they felt they were safer practitioners as a consequence. Participants also said their skills had improved, including analytical skills, communication skills, quality improvement knowledge, consultation skills and clinical expertise regarding the understanding of conditions.
A total of 52 participants started the pathway, indicating a good level of interest amongst the target cohort. There was some attrition; 37 participants completed the unit assessments and of those, 25 have passed their portfolio assessment (with a further 3 learners suspending their learning due to personal circumstances).
The interim evaluation report informed the design and commissioning of the second and third year of the training programme, which recruited in 2023 and will run again in 2024. SQW has developed a series of recommendations to inform programme refinement, and to inform future similar training programmes.
For further information regarding SQW's evaluation, please contact Lauren Roberts, SQW Director, lroberts@sqw.co.uk.
Further information relating to the SMHP training pathway and this evaluation can be found on the NHS England website here, or by contacting the NHS England Pharmacy Workforce, Training and Education Team (england.pharmacyteam@nhs.net).
