The national eLearning programme, developed by the University of Birmingham in partnership with OCB Media, is now being used in 30 of the 43 medical schools in the UK to support undergraduate training in prescribing and therapeutics.
The SCRIPT programme was created in 2010 following the General Medical Council-commissioned EQUIP study, which found that Foundation trainee doctors prescribe with an error rate of 8-10% and were poorly prepared for prescribing. The aim of the programme was to provide and standardise training and education of undergraduate healthcare students and professionals across the NHS to reduce medication errors.
In 2020, the University of Birmingham and Health Education England provided all NHS staff with access to SCRIPT portfolios to support return to work or deployment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The learning was well received, and owing to the success of this, access was extended to all undergraduate Medical Schools.
Our aim has always been to standardise education and training in prescribing and therapeutics to improve medicines safety. The increased uptake of SCRIPT in undergraduate medical schools is an important step in ensuring that the future prescribing workforce have the knowledge and skills to optimise treatment for patients, which includes reducing over prescribing.
Dr Sarah Pontefract, Programme Director for SCRIPT and Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, University of Birmingham.
The programme is currently comprised of more than 120 modules covering a wide range of therapeutic topics that are authored and peer reviewed by healthcare specialists, and edited and developed for online by a team of expert academic clinical pharmacists and clinical pharmacologists. Since its launch, SCRIPT has celebrated 10 years of providing education to over 60,000 NHS staff and 11,500 medical and nursing students. The programme is established as a best practice resource in the UK and recommended in professional guidelines and training standards.
