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Clinical supervision & mentoring

Clinical supervision for pharmacists in primary care

Structured clinical supervision and 1:1 mentoring for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working in general practice and primary care networks. Regular, supported case discussion with an experienced clinician, so decisions get better and confidence is built on real support, not guesswork.

Booking opens soon. Supervision places are being released in stages. To be told when booking opens for you or your team, register your interest through the clinical updates newsletter or ask us about supervision for a whole PCN or practice. The full self-study training, Practice Labs and Clinical System are live now.

Why qualified clinicians still need supervision

Passing an exam confirms you knew enough on the day. It does not, on its own, prepare you for a full inbox of discharge letters, abnormal results and medication queries where the safe answer depends on judgement and context. Not knowing an answer does not make you unsafe. Not knowing when to ask for help can. Clinical supervision is how experienced professionals keep making safe decisions: a regular, protected space for real case discussion, agreed scope, and a clear route to escalate. Confidence in primary care comes from supported decision-making, and supervision should not only happen after something has already gone wrong.

This is a professional norm the rest of the system takes for granted. GPs have peer review and supervision structures built around them. Pharmacists moving into complex primary care roles, often through the ARRS route, are frequently expected to manage difficult decisions with far less of that ongoing support. Our guide to clinical supervision for pharmacists explains what good supervision looks like and how to ask for it when your practice has none.

How our supervision is structured

Every session is built so it earns its place, rather than being a woolly catch-up:

An agenda before

You set a goal and bring two or three anonymised cases and the questions you actually want answered, so the time is spent on your practice.

Case discussion with a clinician

A structured 1:1 with an experienced primary care pharmacist: your reasoning is tested, gaps in monitoring or safety-netting are surfaced, and scope is agreed.

A supervision record after

Feedback, agreed actions and your own reflection are recorded as your supervision record and filed to your CPD log for appraisal and revalidation.

A structured programme

What happens across four mentoring sessions

The 4-pack follows one connected development arc. Each 45-minute session starts with your evidence, ends with agreed actions and feeds the next conversation. A standalone session uses the same structure for one tightly defined priority.

One sessionBest for one decision, case pattern, role question or career problem. You still leave with feedback, actions and a written record.
Four-session pathwayBest for sustained change. Baseline first, practise and apply in the middle, then consolidate the evidence and next plan.
  1. 1Not started
    Session 1 · Baseline & scope

    Starting point, scope and priorities

    Establish what your role covers now, where support is missing and which improvements matter most.

    Prepare
    Your role description or clinic remit, skills-check results, a typical working week and two situations where you felt unsure.
    Leave with
    A clear scope map, three priorities and a practical development plan for the next 8–12 weeks.
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    Session 2 · Reasoning & cases

    Clinical reasoning and safer decisions

    Make your reasoning visible and strengthen how you assess risk, document decisions and safety-net patients.

    Prepare
    Two anonymised cases that were difficult, including what you knew, what you decided and what happened next.
    Leave with
    A reusable reasoning checklist, case-specific feedback and two changes to test in practice.
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    Session 3 · Apply & influence

    Confident delivery and influence

    Turn sound clinical thinking into reliable workflow, confident communication and useful influence across the practice team.

    Prepare
    One recurring workflow problem and one conversation, handover or boundary-setting situation you found difficult.
    Leave with
    A communication script, one small service-improvement experiment and clear measures of success.
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    Session 4 · Review & progress

    Consolidation, evidence and next steps

    Show what has changed, close remaining gaps and convert the term into credible development evidence.

    Prepare
    Your actions from sessions 1–3, examples of changed practice, feedback received and relevant CPD or portfolio evidence.
    Leave with
    A progress summary, evidence map and a focused 90-day plan with review dates.

Who it is for

Pharmacists new to general practice who want a safety net while they find their feet; established practice pharmacists working towards independent prescribing or their own clinics; and pharmacy technicians who need clarity on what to own and when to escalate. For practices, PCNs and training hubs, supervision can be arranged for a whole team alongside per-seat competence evidence from the Practice Labs, so you can show how your workforce is supported and assessed. Medicine in Practice is an independent training provider and is not accredited or endorsed by the GPhC or any regulator.

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