Advanced Health Assessment and Prescribing (PGCert)

Develop your knowledge of advanced health assessment, diagnosis, and independent and supplementary prescribing.

This Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) is designed for UK registered nurses, midwives or allied health practitioners (including pharmacists), to train as non-medical prescribers. If you're working towards a specialist or advanced role within clinical practice, this PGCert will advance your clinical skills.

You’ll learn how to:

• make clinical judgements that consider research evidence, expert opinion, the legal/ethical dimensions of practice and the views of the people in your care
• demonstrate a high level of autonomy in managing risk, complexity and uncertainty in your role as a non-medical prescriber
• undertake discrete episodes of care delivery for people with differentiated and undifferentiated conditions
• demonstrate the application of assessment, diagnostic, therapeutic, problem-solving and decision-making skills within your role as a non-medical prescriber

This pathway will enable you to practice with a higher level of clinical autonomy in roles that require you to assess, diagnose and treat people.

To access this award, you must work in a suitable clinical environment and have access to appropriate medical, and experienced Advanced Clinical Practitioner mentorship.

Nurses and midwives are required to have an experienced prescriber from the practitioner’s own profession (or pharmacist or medical practitioner) to act as practice supervisor, as well as a middle or senior grade doctor to act as the practice assessor.

Allied Health Professions (AHPs) are required to have a Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP) who will be a medical practitioner.

Pharmacists are required to study their Prescribing module at a university which has approval to run the Prescribing for Pharmacists programme, and then bring this module into the programme via Recognition of Prior Learning.

Course lead

Dr Francine O’Malley is a senior teaching fellow at the University of Southampton

Francine’s clinical career before joining the University in 2011 was working as an advanced nurse practitioner and non-medical prescriber in first contact care settings in primary care, walk in centres and a minor injuries unit.

Francine completed a PhD which was focused on antibiotic prescribing by nurses in general practice and is the lead for the NMP programme and pathway lead for the MSc ACP.

You'll need the following:

• a 2:2 degree in a relevant subject
• current professional registration with the Nursing & Midwifery Council  or Health and Care Professions Council
• a current job contract in a clinical or clinically related area
• at least 3 years’ relevant post-registration clinical experience 
• a clinical supervisor and a clinical assessor who can assess your practice competency and support your learning
• references from your current employer, confirming supervisory support, role suitability and practice experience

Careers