About the Patient Group Directions programme

The aim of this elearning programme, which was developed by the NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS), is to support healthcare professionals and organisations who are considering, developing, authorising and using patient group directions (PGDs) to deliver healthcare services in line with legislation and NICE medicines practice guideline (MPG2).

Whether you are a commissioner or a provider, this programme can support you. It outlines the legislation and guidance supporting appropriate and legal PGD use; it considers when PGDs should not be used and which other legal mechanisms would be more appropriate. The learning signposts learners to a wealth of resources, including the SPS website which contains supporting guidance, answers to frequently asked questions and to relevant national guidance. Access it today to learn when PGDs can be used in practice as an appropriate mechanism to support the safe and timely supply and/or administration of medicines.

More information

This elearning programme is intended for all health professionals who use Patient Group Directions and those involved in their development and authorisation.

Upon completion of all aspects of this elearning programme, learners should be able to:

• determine when PGD use is legal and appropriate and identify when alternative legal mechanism should be considered
• use current legislation and guidelines to develop and implement appropriate PGDs to ensure timely access to safe and effective care
• apply the appropriate competency frameworks and governance arrangements within your professional responsibility to use, develop, authorise, review or update a PGD
• access online resources to support the use, development and authorisation of PGDs

Acknowledgements

UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)

Reviewers:

Beth Graham, Lead Pharmacist Immunisation Services, Immunisation and Countermeasures, UK Health Security Agency

Jackie Lamberty, Lead Pharmacist, Medicines Governance, Medical Director Division, UK Health Security Agency

Michelle Horn, Senior Nurse, Transformation, HEE

David Rovardi, David Rovardi Pharmacist Independent Prescriber and Registered Paramedic, Specialist Medicines Advisor, College of Paramedics

Cindy Farmer, Associate Specialist, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Unity Sexual Health, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust

HEE elfh would like to acknowledge the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE) for the original session upon which this updated version has been developed.

How to Access

Available to all

The Patient Group Directions programme is freely available to access here. 
Please note your progress and completion of sessions will not be recorded and you will not be able to generate a record of completion. If you require evidence of learning, please register and then log in to access this programme on the elfh Hub.

If you already have an account with elfh, then you can enrol on to the Patient Group Directions programme by logging in to the elfh Hub, selecting My Account > Enrolment and selecting the programme. You can then access the programme immediately in the My elearning section.

Register >

To view the Patient Group Directions programme, select the View button below. If you already have an account with elfh, you will also be able to login and enrol on the programme from the View button.

View >

NHS healthcare staff in England

The Patient Group Directions programme is also available to NHS healthcare staff via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). Accessing this elearning via ESR means that your completions will transfer with you throughout your NHS career.

Further details are available here.

Not an NHS organisation?

If you are not an NHS health or care organisation and therefore do not qualify for free access elfh Hub, you may be able to access the service by creating an OpenAthens account.

To check whether or not you qualify for free access via OpenAthens, you can view the eligibility criteria and register on the ‘OpenAthens’ portal.

Registering large numbers of users

If you are a HR, IT or Practice Manager and would like to register and enrol large numbers of staff within your organisation for access onto the Patient Group Directions programme, please contact elfh directly.

Organisations wishing to use their own LMS

For HR departments wanting to know more about gaining access to courses using an existing Learning Management System please contact elfh directly to express interest.

More information

Please select the following link for more information on how to use the elfh Hub.