Feedback from NES Peer Coaches for Pharmacist Independent Prescribers in NHSScotland McBride E, Reid F. NHS Education for Scotland Introduction Results Conclusions and future work The Peer Coach system was developed and implemented by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) Pharmacy in 2010 to support pharmacists undertaking the Independent Prescribing (IP) course. Peer Coaches are qualified , practising IPs who support other pharmacists locally during IP training within community and GP practice settings. This involves acting as a role model in practice and supporting and signposting pharmacists in relation to course requirements and is in addition to the Designated Medical Practitioner and University support. Peer Coaches are allocated to pharmacists by NES when they secure a NES funded IP place. The email was successfully delivered to all 96 Peer Coaches. After the 4 week data collection period 60 (63%) had responded. Impact on workload The Peer Coaches were asked the number of times in the last year that they had been contacted by the pharmacist(s) for whom they are Peer Coach: 14 (23%) of respondents were not contacted at all 39 (65%) were contacted 1 - 5 times. 6 (10%) were contacted 6 - 10 times and 1 (2%) > 10 times. 44 (73.3%) of respondents either disagreed or strongly disagreed that being a Peer Coach had significantly increased their workload. 15 (25%) neither agreed nor disagreed and only 1 (1.7%) agreed that being a Peer Coach had significantly increased their workload. Roles of Peer Coaches The Peer Coaches were asked to select which activities they supported from a dropdown list. The number of Peer Coaches supporting each of the activities is detailed in Table 1. Ongoing roles 51 (85%) agreed or strongly agreed that NES should continue to allocate Peer Coaches to pharmacists working in community pharmacy. 47 (78%) agreed or strongly agreed that NES should continue to allocate Peer Coaches to pharmacists working in general practice. 51(85%) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that having a Peer Coach is beneficial to pharmacists undertaking the Independent Prescribing Course. The results indicate that being a Peer Coach does not significantly increase workload. The main activities that Peer Coaches support with are signposting, “sitting in on clinics” and helping with portfolio work. The results indicate that Peer Coaches believe their role to be beneficial. NES should continue to allocate Peer Coaches for pharmacists completing IP courses. Further work should be undertaken to explore the role of the Peer Coach from the IP trainee perspective. Anecdotal feedback was received by NES that Peer Coaches were not being accessed or utilised by IPs in training . Peer Coaches are not remunerated for this supportive role. This work was undertaken to : Identify the input of Peer Coaches to IPs in training Investigate the roles of Peer Coaches Determine the thoughts of Peer Coaches on their ongoing roles Aim of research Table 1 Activities Undertaken by Peer Coaches Activity Number Signposting 43 (72%) Sitting in on clinics 41 (68%) Practising clinical skills on patients 21 (35%) Portfolio support 29 (48%) Essay support 11 (18%) Other* 5 (8%) Details of all NES Peer Coaches was obtained from the NES Pharmacist Prescribers database in each region: North, East and West (n=96). An online questionnaire was designed on Questback® and was piloted by two Peer Coaches. The revised questionnaire was then sent to all 96 Peer Coaches by email. A reminder email was automatically sent to non-responders at 2 and 3 weeks after the initial email. Research Methodology * e.g. ‘strategic planning for clinical practice’