Clinical Audit in Community Pharmacy: Design, Delivery and Follow-up
A practical step-by-step guide to clinical audit in community pharmacy. Covers CPCF requirements (including the 2026/27 contractual pause), the valproate and antimicrobial stewardship national audit examples, how to design and run your own audit, analyse results, and use audit evidence for GPhC governance.
Clinical audit has been part of the NHS since the 1990s and a formal CPCF requirement for community pharmacy since 2005. Done well, it is one of the most powerful tools a pharmacy has for identifying risks, demonstrating improvement, and building the patient safety evidence that commissioners and GPhC inspectors look for. Done poorly — vague standards, inconsistent data collection, no action plan, no re-audit — it generates paperwork without generating change.
This course teaches you to do it well. It takes you through the entire audit cycle from choosing a topic to closing the loop, using real national audit examples (the valproate Pregnancy Prevention Programme audit and antimicrobial stewardship audit) to illustrate every principle. It is fully up to date with the current CPCF position, including the 2026/27 pause on standalone contractual audits.
What you'll learn
- ✓What clinical audit is — and how it differs from research and service monitoring
- ✓CPCF audit history: the dual audit requirement, national audit examples, the 2026/27 contractual pause
- ✓How the valproate national audit worked — standards, data collection, MYS submission, findings
- ✓How to choose a meaningful local audit topic and write standards inspectors trust
- ✓How to design a data collection tool, sample size and audit period
- ✓How to analyse results, write an action plan and close the audit loop with a re-audit
- ✓How weekly governance audits (CD balances, near-misses, incidents) support GPhC inspection evidence
- ✓How to store and present audit evidence at contract monitoring visits and GPhC inspections
"Clinical audit involves measuring performance in practice against explicitly stated standards, then implementing changes and re-auditing to check that improvements have been made." — NHS clinical audit definition
The 2026/27 audit position
In 2026/27, there is no contractual requirement for pharmacy owners to complete a standalone clinical audit under Terms of Service. However, there are three important caveats: contractors should be prepared to demonstrate audit evidence at contract monitoring visits; the Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) for 2026/27 includes a clinical consultations audit as a quality criterion; and the contractual requirement is expected to return in future years. This course frames audit as an essential governance and patient safety tool regardless of whether it is contractually mandated in any given year.
👤 Who this is for
Community pharmacy contractors, clinical governance leads, superintendent pharmacists and responsible pharmacists in England, Scotland and Wales. Valuable for anyone who has not previously designed or run a clinical audit, anyone preparing to undertake PQS audit criteria, and pharmacies wanting to use audit systematically as a patient safety and inspection evidence tool.
⚠️ Educational content only. CPCF clinical audit requirements change year to year. Always check the current CPE guidance at cpe.org.uk/quality-and-regulations/clinical-governance/clinical-audit/ and NHS England communications for the current position before planning audit activities. This course reflects the position as of May 2026.
This course includes
Course Curriculum
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This course includes
- 📚 5 modules · 12 lessons
- ⏱ 2h self-paced learning
- 📥 3 downloadable templates & checklists
- 📝 Knowledge assessment quiz
- 🔁 Unlimited quiz re-attempts
- 🏆 Verified certificate on completion
- ♾️ Lifetime access to content
Downloadable templates
- Clinical Audit Proposal Template
- Audit Data Collection Sheet Template
- Audit Report & Action Plan Template
Templates unlock after enrolment
Standards & currency
Written by UK pharmacy experts. Always verify against current official guidance before clinical use.
Certificate of Achievement
Complete this course and earn a personalised, printable certificate — with your name, course title and a unique certificate number. Suitable as CPD evidence for GPhC revalidation and GPhC inspection records.