Despite the challenges, I love to be able to help patients presenting in the pharmacy to make their patient journey better. Nothing upsets me more than the patient who has been to three pharmacies needing help with tonsillitis to be told they can’t help as they have no prescriber, only for me to assess them and find they have a viral infection and only need an over the counter product and reassurance. As a profession we need to take ownership of each patient that walks through our door. If we can’t help we need to get them seen by someone who can by either phoning their GP, optician or local IP pharmacist.


I referred a patient who was in for a travel consultation urgently to their GP once. I was concerned about the symptoms I noticed during the consultation. It turned out he had leukaemia and he was put on a blood transfusion in hospital later that night. When I saw him I had no idea that was the issue and that’s ok. We don't need to always know what is wrong but we do need to know when we need to refer the patient elsewhere for more support. .


My advice to anyone starting with independent prescribing is take it slow and steady, ensure safety and work closely with GP colleagues to manage the presenting common conditions. For the newly qualified independent prescribers coming in this year we really need to think about how we manage their stress levels. Patients can be demanding so they need to have the confidence to say no if it’s outside their competence. That is easier if you can explain why to the patient after the clinical consultation. For example, you don't need antibiotics for your sore throat because your fever pain score is low but this is how I suggest we treat it. And if it’s outside your scope of practice explain that you can get a GP appointment for them if the patient is happy with that. From my own experience, if we explain to patients what is happening, make them aware of our scope of practice or why they do not need antibiotics, they will understand the shared decision making.


Looking to the future, patients presenting in every pharmacy should get the same level of service to get to the same end point. All pharmacy staff need to take ownership of each patient that walks in their door. If a patient thinks they have tonsillitis and has a fever and puss spots a prescriber can consult at a suitable time or get the patient a same day GP appointment. If no tonsillitis symptoms are present then a throat spray, pain killers and safety netting advice can be given. Community pharmacy is the convenient access point to the NHS and we need to triage patients appropriately, refer if needed and treat those we can while informing their GP of the outcome and give self-care advice. We need to ensure every patient’s journey is the best it can be while helping improve their health.”


"To any newly qualified prescribers I would say start small with your scope, there is no need to prescribe for everything..."


Glenn Davie is a recently qualified independent prescriber who has been working alongside Leanne at Barnton Pharmacy in Edinburgh for four years, including one as an FTY pharmacist.


“I did my Independent Prescribing Certificate in 2025, three years after I qualified as a pharmacist from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. I work at Barnton Pharmacy as an independent prescribing pharmacy manager where I undertake Pharmacy First Plus alongside Leanne, an ear wax removal clinic as well as managing the day-to-day running of the pharmacy alongside Sarah, our ACT and other pharmacy manager.


I was annotated as an independent prescriber in November of 2025 and received my NHS prescription pads in February of this year. While I am a relatively new prescriber, I have been utilising clinical assessment skills for several years now.


I had worked with independent prescribers when I was a pharmacy student and knew how important it would be for my future development to work in an environment where there was an experienced prescriber. When I happened to come across Barnton Pharmacy on a university placement, I could see how important training with an experienced independent prescriber was.


Since graduating from university, I have worked at Barnton Pharmacy and have found my transition into independent prescribing to be a reasonably smooth journey. I have always had support from an experienced prescriber and the service was already well established with the workflows in place to undertake the service.


Things may have been different if I was working elsewhere. A lot more work could have been involved in order to review the workflow and processes to allow, what are often, longer consultations to occur while the rest of the work is still being completed safely and efficiently.


I believe I would also have found it more challenging if I did not have the same support from an experienced mentor to allow me to build up my confidence both in clinical assessment skills and prescribing decision making.


I started small with my scope of practice looking at initially expanding some of the existing criteria for PGDs such as skin infections for patients allergic to penicillin and, prior to the skin inflammation PGD, prescribing products such as hydrocortisone for younger patients or for short term use on the face. The processes for independent prescribing were already in place and the team were used to working with a prescriber. But we adapted things slightly by checking what I would and wouldn't be confident to prescribe for. In these instances I would still see and assess the patient as appropriate but would then arrange a referral if necessary to another more suitable healthcare professional.


It has been invaluable to work so closely with an experienced independent prescriber when I first qualified as a prescriber and for my ongoing development in this area of work. Regularly when working together we have discussions about patients we have both seen who may be more complex and what we might have done differently or discuss follow-up plans between us.


The biggest factors in helping me establish myself have been a combination of the independent prescribing qualification itself, the workplace


GLENN DAVIE IS A RECENTLY QUALIFIED INDEPENDENT PRESCRIBER


environment and the mentorship I have received. The qualification gave me so many opportunities to see how so many different prescribers work in lots of different environments as part of my PLP and this has strengthened my connections across the MDT in my local community. Working in an environment with an experienced prescriber and a team that are used to working with a prescribing pharmacist has been extremely helpful. The pharmacy team has been an enormous help and hugely supportive and Leanne has been a fantastic mentor throughout my prescribing training and now as a qualified prescriber.


The most important thing I have learned while observing an experienced independent prescriber is to practice assessment skills such as respiratory and ear examinations on patients who have been seen by another prescriber and been given a prescription already. This allowed me to build confidence and to hear and see for myself what abnormal is. This is not something I would have been taught during my prescribing training.


To any newly qualified prescribers I would say start small with your scope, there is no need to prescribe for everything, especially when you are just starting out. You may at times feel pressured to prescribe but you should never write a prescription just because a patient makes you feel you have to. It is important to remember that there is always the option to refer a patient to someone else if you are not confident or competent to prescribe for that condition or patient. Not prescribing is just as important sometimes as prescribing!"


LEANNE CAREY WAS ONE OF THE FIRST INDEPENDENT PRESCRIBERS IN SCOTLAND


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