See also our policy pages on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Artificial Intelligence, Copyright and Intellectual Property, and Digital Capabilities for Pharmacy Workforce.

Introduction

This page is designed to help pharmacy professionals understand why digital skills are essential in practice. It provides guidance on professional frameworks to support the development of digital skills and capabilities, along with an overview of available education and training resources, all in one place.

Pharmacy has always been a digital profession, grounded in safety, and innovation. The next decade requires more clear leadership roles, coherent career pathways, and integrated organisational structures.

Pharmacy already operates as a digital profession through:

  • Operational and Clinical Expertise: uniquely responsible for both clinical decision-making and operational medicines systems
  • Data Stewardship: long track record of accuracy in prescribing records, medicines value optimisation, and analysis of variation
  • System Adoption: pioneers in electronic prescribing, medicines data standards, dispensing robotics, and clinical decision support.

Pharmacy professionals are integral to enable the ambition to a ‘digital by default’ approach for the NHS. It is essential that the profession is not only equipped with the skills and capabilities to support this transformation but also positioned to lead it from the front

Digital literacy is defined as “those capabilities that fit someone for living, learning, working, participating and thriving in a digital society".1

A National Working Group was established to meet the following objectives for pharmacy professionals:

  1. Review the pharmacy workforce needs in digital skills and capabilities
  2. Review and recommend the professional frameworks that can be used to support their digital confidence and skills
  3. Review existing educational courses that are available to support development of digital skills. 

 

Why Digital?

Digital is the defining force of the next decade of healthcare.

All pharmacy professionals use technology in their roles in providing healthcare services. The need to support digital literacy, as well as education and training in using technology has been highlighted in government strategies and policies including the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan3, Watcher report4, Topol review5.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Digital Capabilities for the Pharmacy Workforce and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Pharmacy position statements further highlight the importance of the need of education and training for pharmacy professionals in these areas.6

Without action:

  • Workforce will see digital as a burden, not an enabler
  • Organisations will miss opportunities to improve safety, efficiency, and value in medicines optimisation
  • Patients will face widening inequalities in access to digital services.

With action:

  • Every pharmacy professional can build digital confidence and capability
  • Every organisation can embed pharmacy digital leadership and expertise in governance
  • Nationally, pharmacy can lead in designing and delivering digital medicines transformation.

Professional Frameworks

Pharmacy professionals need to have digital skills and capabilities these will vary according to individuals job roles, responsibilities and area of practice.

For pharmacy individuals there are a variety of professional frameworks that are available to guide the individual to understand what their current level of digital skills and identify their learning needs.

The NHS Health and Care Digital Capabilities Framework categorises digital capabilities into six domains. Each domain describes specific capabilities that are made up of skills, behaviours and attitudes.

The six domains are:

  1. Information, Data and Content
  2. Teaching Learning and Self Development
  3. Communication, Collaboration and Participation
  4. Technical Proficiency
  5. Creation, Innovation and Research
  6. Digital Identity, Wellbeing, Safety and Security.

Table 1 provides examples of potential activities mapped to the NHS Health and Care Digital Capabilities Framework mapped in terms of the day-to-day use of digital technologies for different staff groups.

Table 1: Examples of potential activities that would be expected in job profiles at the different levels of digital capability

Foundational Digital Skills (All staff)

Advanced (Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians)

Proficient / Consultant (Leaders, Digital Specialist Roles)

Use of electronic health records

Use of clinical decision support tools and prescribing systems.

System- level data analysis

Digital communication and collaboration tools (e.g. NHSmail, Microsoft Teams)

Safe handling and interpretation of digital data (e.g. dashboards, audits)

Digital transformation leadership

Data protection, privacy and cybersecurity awareness

Using technology for patient education and remote consultations where applicable

Strategic design and implementation of digital services

Basic use of pharmacy IT systems (e.g. Patient Medication Record (PMR), Electronic Prescription Service (EPS)

 

Governance of digital systems.

Using Frameworks

The NHS Digital Skills Assessment Tool is an online tool that pharmacy professionals can use to assess their digital skills by completing a set of questions. This will then signpost to learning resources to support their development. The assessment is accessed through a network of Digital Learning centres and individuals will have to check if their organisations has registered to this assessment tool.

Whether you are new in digital or want to understand your areas for development in digital skills the above framework and assessment tool will provide you with overview of your current level of digital skills and capabilities.

In addition to the assessment tool and framework for identifying learning needs, several professional frameworks are available for pharmacy. These frameworks support individuals in evaluating their skills, expertise, and development areas.

Table 2 provides an overview of each framework and its recommended workforce group. These are suggested frameworks, and depending on your role, you may wish to review more than one to determine which best meets your needs. (Please note: this is not an exhaustive list of all available frameworks for digital skills and capabilities.)

Table 2: Overview of professional frameworks

Framework

Overview

Intended audience

Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS)

Post–registration pharmacist curriculum

Core Advanced Pharmacist Curriculum

Consultant Pharmacist Curriculum

The frameworks are based on five broad domains: person centred care and collaboration, professional practice, leadership and management, education and research. Digital skills and capabilities are embedded throughout the curriculum
  1. Post – registration pharmacist curriculum is recommended for early career pharmacists who are patient focussed.
  2. Core advanced pharmacist curriculum is recommended for pharmacists working at an advanced level who have the knowledge skills and expertise to deliver care for patients with more complex needs and requires a higher degree of autonomy.
  3. Consultant pharmacist curriculum is recommended for pharmacists who are leaders in the profession as well as senior clinical experts.

National Competency Framework (NCF) for Primary Care Pharmacy Technicians

The framework is designed to support safe practice and professionalism in primary care. There are four domains in the NCF: Multidisciplinary team working, managing medicines, optimising medicines and personalised care, professional accountability and leadership.

The NCF can be used by education and training providers, employers, commissioners, and individual pharmacy technicians. For pharmacy technicians, it helps identify gaps in knowledge and skills, highlighting training and development needs to meet core practice competencies. It also sets out the competency requirements for delivering services in primary care roles.

Faculty of Clinical Informatics (FCI) Core Competency Framework

There are six domains in the framework: Health and wellbeing in practice, Information technologies and systems, working with data and analytical methods, enabling human and organisational change, decision making, leading informatics teams and projects.

This framework is designed for clinical, health, and social care roles that involve informatics responsibilities. Pharmacy professionals working in clinical informatics or those looking to transition into specialist informatics roles can use this framework to guide their development.

Federation for Informatics Professionals (FEDIP) Specification

FEDIP have set out professional standards at five levels for specialist staff. These are Associate Practitioner, Practitioner, Senior Practitioner, Advanced Practitioner, Leading Practitioner.

For professionals seeking specialist clinical informatics roles, these standards are used to accredit individuals. Accredited professionals are listed on a public register of informatics specialists

To help you apply professional frameworks in developing your digital skills and capabilities, we’ve included examples from each framework that show where digital skills are embedded.

Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) – Credentialing Curriculums

The RPS provide pharmacists with professional frameworks that can be used as part of credentialing. These curricula are designed for pharmacists who want to demonstrate advancing levels of post-registration practice. They also provide guidance to support the development of digital skills and capabilities within the individual curriculums.

Post-registration Foundation Pharmacist curriculum

Download a PDF of the Post-registration Foundation Pharmacist curriculum

This is the first stage of post-registration professional development pathway for pharmacists across all sectors of pharmacy. Digital skills are embedded throughout the curriculum. Figure 1 shows an example from the curriculum in relation to digital skills and capabilities.

Figure 1: An example of the Post-registration Foundation Pharmacist curriculum

Domain 2: Professional Practice

Capabilities

Outcomes

Descriptors

Applies clinical knowledge and skills in practice

2.2 Undertakes a holistic clinical review of a person and their medicines to ensure they are appropriate

Utilises the systems and technologies required to prescribe medicines safely and effectively

The post-registration curriculum supports the continuum of practice, with pharmacists applying the knowledge they have gained from their initial education and training to increasingly complex people and situations.

To explore the similarities between the RPS Post-registration Curriculum and the NHS Health and Social Care Digital Capabilities Framework, download the Post registration foundation curriculum mapped to the DCF (PDF). The colour coding highlights areas of overlap between the two frameworks. If you are a post-registration pharmacist aiming to credential against the RPS curriculum while developing your digital skills, you can use the RPS Post-registration Curriculum as a guide to support this process.

RPS Core Advanced Pharmacist curriculum

Download a PDF of the RPS Core Advanced Pharmacist curriculum

The RPS core advanced curriculum describes the entry-level standard for advanced pharmacists working in any patient focussed role. It bridges the gap between the RPS post-registration foundation curriculum and the RPS consultant pharmacist curriculum. It provides a credentialing assessment to assure pharmacists have the capabilities to practise at an advanced level. Figure two shows an example from the curriculum in relation to digital skills and competencies.

Figure 2: An example of the Core Advanced pharmacist curriculum

Domain 2: Professional Practice

Capabilities

Outcomes

Descriptors

Applies advanced clinical knowledge and skills in the delivery of care for individuals or groups with complex needs.

2.1 Delivers care using advanced pharmaceutical knowledge and skills for individuals and/or groups with highly complex needs, including where evidence is limited or ambiguous.

Enabling the application of innovative healthcare technologies e.g. genomic medicine, digital health solutions, artificial intelligence and advanced therapeutic medicinal products.
RPS Consultant Pharmacist curriculum 

Download a PDF of the RPS Consultant Pharmacist curriculum

Consultant pharmacist credentialing is available to all pharmacists practising in patient focussed roles i.e. pharmacists whose roles have a direct influence on the care of individual patients and/or patient populations. Figure three shows an example from the curriculum in relation to digital skills and competencies.

Figure 3: An example of the Consultant pharmacist curriculum

Domain 3: Leadership and Management

Capabilities

Outcomes

Descriptors

Leads on the strategic vision for implementing and innovating service delivery beyond their organisation; manages service change effectively to deliver demonstrable improvements to patients care.

3.2 2 Leads on innovation and improvement to service delivery at organisational level and beyond; manages change effectively to achieve demonstrable improvement(s) to patient care.

b. Promotes an evidence-based approach to drive service innovation.

e. Leads on the successful implementation of innovate ideas with quantifiable outcomes.

National Competency Framework for Primary Care Pharmacy Technicians

The Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK) is the national professional leadership body for pharmacy technicians across all sectors. In collaboration with the Primary Care Pharmacy Association (PCPA), APTUK has developed the National Competency Framework (NCF) to support safe practice and professionalism in primary care, inform education and training requirements, and promote the professional development of pharmacy technicians.

The National Competency is structured into four domains:

  1. Multidisciplinary team working
  2. Managing medicines
  3. Optimising medicines and personalised care
  4. Professional accountability and leadership

The framework uses Miller’s Pyramid to illustrate levels of competence, with digital skills and competencies embedded throughout. Figure 4 provides an example of digital competencies within the NCF.

Figure 4: – Example of digital competencies within the National Competency Framework

Competency b – Digital Literacy

Millers level

Demonstrates awareness and application of legislation, guidelines, policies and protocols to protect privacy in the use and sharing of digital information, data and content.

 Does

Uses digital tools to search and locate information, data and content through simple searches in digital environments and navigates between content in different digital environments.

 Does

Uses digital tools such as spreadsheets and/or databases to store information and data.

 Does

Education and Training Resources

To support the development of the pharmacy workforce in digital skills and capabilities, a review of current learning resources has been undertaken and mapped against the domains in the NHS Health and Care Digital Capabilities Framework.

This resource will continue to evolve as new training and learning opportunities become available.

Once you have mapped yourself against the appropriate framework or curriculum and identified your learning needs, you can support the development of your digital skills and capabilities using the Education and Training Resources document.

The Centre for Postgraduate Pharmacy Education (CPPE) has launched a new Digital healthcare gateway to help pharmacy professionals prepare for the transition to a digital-first NHS.

The gateway is designed to build knowledge and confidence in digital healthcare and offers a flexible, interactive learning experience suitable for all pharmacy professionals, whether you are beginning your digital journey or advancing your expertise.

Career Pathways

There is currently no single defined career pathway for pharmacy professionals working in digital healthcare. Most individuals working in this area have created their own routes, shaped by organisational needs, available opportunities, and personal interests.

Within organisations, pharmacy informatics roles typically fall into categories such as technical roles, project management, implementation leads, and Chief Clinical Information Officer (CCIO) / Chief Pharmacy Information Officer (CPIO) positions.

As this field continues to grow and evolve, there is increasing interest in developing advanced roles, including consultant positions and clinical academic roles in informatics for pharmacy professionals.

Fellowships

For pharmacy professionals interested in developing their digital skills or exploring a career in digital health or clinical informatics, a range of fellowship opportunities are available. Please note that the examples provided represent current opportunities, and these will continue to evolve as the field develops.

Fellowship

Overview

Topol Digital Fellowships

The Topol Digital Fellowship, part of the NHS Digital Academy, is designed to equip fellows with essential skills and knowledge to lead digital transformation in healthcare.

The programme covers key areas such as:

  • Practicing person-centred design
  • Applying agile methodologies
  • Leading digital transformation initiatives
  • Using data effectively in service design.

Digital Health Leadership Programme

This programme is a 12-month, fully accredited Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Health Leadership, delivered by the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London in collaboration with partners.

It is designed for individuals responsible for driving change through the implementation and optimisation of digital transformation within their organisations.

NHS Fellowship in Clinical Artificial Intelligence

This fellowship provides the first structured pathway in the UK for developing expertise in clinical AI deployment.

Fellows gain advanced skills in clinical AI while continuing in their current roles, applying state-of-the-art AI solutions within live hospital environments.

The Shuri Network Digital Fellowships

The Shuri Network, in collaboration with NHS England, is committed to supporting women from ethnic minority backgrounds to thrive in digital health and drive improvements in patient care.

The Fellowship empowers participants:

  • To overcome career-related challenges
  • Gain insight into diverse digital roles
  • Progress in their careers, build positive professional relationships
  • Apply their learning to enhance patient and service user care, safety, and outcomes.

Clinical Informatics Job Profiles

The current landscape is marked by a wide range of job titles, descriptions, and pay bands across organisations. As digital roles have evolved and expanded, positions have been adapted, merged, and redefined to meet organisational needs. This has led to numerous job titles and roles with slight variations, inconsistent banding, and differing levels of responsibility.

The Federation for Informatics Professionals (FEDIP) has developed an occupational architecture an innovative database that groups job roles into families. Pharmacy professionals interested in exploring clinical informatics job profiles can visit the FEDIP website for more information.

Some of the example job role profiles include:

FEDIP is currently reviewing the need to develop a dedicated job role profile for the Chief Pharmacy Information Officer.

Case Study

Career Journey of Sarah Thompson Chief Clinical Information Officer (CCIO)

Sarah Thompson is pharmacist and Chief Clinical Information Officer (CCIO) for the NHS University Hospitals Liverpool Group. Sarah’s pathway to this role is illustrated in the infographic below.

MY PHARMACIST CAREER PATH TO NHS CCIO - SARAH THOMPSON IS A PHARMACIST AND CHIEF CLINICAL INFORMATION OFFICER (CCIO) THE NHS UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF LIVERPOOL GROUP

Digital Leadership

Findings from the dedicated research and survey undertaken for this report show that digital leadership within pharmacy is emerging but inconsistently recognised across organisations and systems.

Unlike in other professional groups, where Chief Clinical Information Officer (CCIO) and Chief Nursing Information Officer (CNIO) roles are better established, pharmacy often lacks an equivalent Chief Pharmacy Information Officer (CPIO) role or clear ownership of digital medicines transformation.

Governance arrangements are highly variable: respondents described pharmacy being absent from key digital committees, brought into decisions late, or consulted only when systems were already selected or implemented.

This contributes to digital innovations in medicines remaining siloed, inconsistently evaluated, and difficult to scale. Supplier partnerships are also affected, with many decisions on design or adoption made without pharmacy input.

As participants noted, “Pharmacy is often brought in late — decisions are made without our input” and “We’re good at fixing systems locally, but not recognised nationally as digital leaders.” Yet the research also highlights strong capability and appetite within the profession: pharmacy professionals already lead complex digital processes, from electronic prescribing and clinical decision support to medicines data analysis and optimisation.

The opportunity now is to support individuals and organisational leaders to articulate, develop, and advocate for pharmacy digital leadership roles - including CPIO or equivalent, that reflect local need and system priorities.

This means helping organisations understand the value of dedicated pharmacy digital expertise, providing clearer pathways for aspiring leaders, and enabling systems to embed pharmacy perspectives within digital governance. By doing so, the NHS can unlock the full contribution of pharmacy’s clinical, operational, and informatics strengths in shaping the digital future of medicines and patient care.