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Prescribing errors are one of the most significant and preventable causes of patient harm in healthcare systems around the world. Tackling that problem starts in medical education, which is why we are seeing more and more institutions turn to structured, evidence based tools to sharpen how their students learn to prescribe.

 

RCSI Bahrain and the University of Sharjah are two institutions doing exactly that, and both have chosen BPS Assessment’s platform to help give their students a stronger foundation in prescribing education. This builds on an already established and growing presence in the region. We have been working with institutions across the Middle East for a number of years, including Gulf Medical University, and it is encouraging to see that momentum continue.

 

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI Bahrain)

The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI Bahrain) is a medical university in the Gulf region. A constituent university of RCSI Dublin, which was founded in 1784, the Bahrain campus has been training healthcare professionals since it opened in 2004. There are students across its Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Midwifery and Postgraduate Studies and Research, and its graduates hold internationally recognised qualifications from both RCSI and the National University of Ireland.

 

RCSI Bahrain has embedded BPS Assessment’s platform into their programmes to support prescribing education for its students, with access to the ready made assessments and eLearning content that sit at the heart of what BPS Assessment offers. These resources complement the institution’s own teaching materials and curriculum, giving students the opportunity to develop and test their prescribing skills alongside their wider clinical studies.

 

University of Sharjah

The University of Sharjah, founded in 1997, is a multi-disciplinary university in the UAE. Its Medical and Health Sciences cluster brings together the Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Health Sciences on a single dedicated campus, serving students from across the world.

 

The University’s College of Pharmacy holds an international Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and its College of Medicine runs an MBBS programme. Students here can also benefit from our ready made assessments and eLearning content, which can be used alongside their own teaching materials to reinforce prescribing knowledge and help identify areas for development.

 

What this means for Prescribing Education

For both institutions, the platform provides a practical, evidence based resource that works in step with their existing programmes. Our assessments and eLearning content are built around real prescribing scenarios, covering drug selection, dose calculation, prescription writing and review that students need to master before they reach practice. Because the platform is fully cloud-based and accessible from any device, it fits naturally into busy teaching schedules without adding administrative burden for staff.

 

If you would like to find out more about how BPS Assessment could support your institution, we would love to hear from you. Get in touch with the team for more information or to arrange a demonstration.

Can you believe it’s been six months since we launched the EPS Simulator? Since then we’ve seen institutions who have started integrating it into their teaching programmes and we’re already hearing some really encouraging feedback from educators and students.

 

How does it work?

One of the biggest challenges in prescribing education is giving students meaningful exposure to decision making before they step into a clinical environment. Reading about prescribing and actually doing it are very different experiences, and the gap between the two has been a challenge for educators.

 

The EPS Simulator was built to replicate the kind of electronic prescribing system students will encounter in hospitals and clinics, it gives them a space to think through complex decisions, make mistakes safely and develop the judgement that comes with practice. With over 4,000 medications available and the ability to build scenarios around detailed patient histories, clinical presentations and allergies, educators have enormous flexibility in how they use it.

 

What institutions are doing with it

It has been really insightful to see how institutions are shaping the Simulator around their own curricula. When students engage with a realistic prescribing interface regularly, it changes how they approach the subject altogether.

 

During Pharmacology 2025 in December last year, Professor Kurt Wilson and Hiten Mitha from the University of Manchester presented on how they have been integrating the EPS Simulator into their programme.

 

The University needed “something that mirrors those clinical processes but doesn’t have all the hindrances that the real clinical systems have.” With 2,500 students spread across different NHS trusts, they also needed one platform that worked for everyone.

 

They ran a pilot with final year students through two immersive sessions. One was a secondary care session that placed students in the role of a foundation doctor looking after a ward of five patients, working through prioritisation, prescribing decisions and team communication. Facilitators act as nurses, radiologists and other clinical staff, so students can realistically engage as they would in practice. There was also a primary care session that consisted of a  two hour GP session, covering acute appointments, duty doctor tasks, prescription reviews and complex polypharmacy cases.

 

Despite no prior introduction to the Simulator, students got to grips with it quickly. The team noted that the transition was straightforward and the immersive format clearly landed well. In the words of the team: “it’s not just about writing a prescription, it’s about how you administer it, how you communicate this to the other healthcare professionals and the patient.” That broader picture is exactly what the sessions are designed to bring out.

 

The response from the Manchester University team was really encouraging to hear. They described the sessions as genuinely immersive, with students engaging in a way that felt true to clinical practice rather than just an assessment exercise. The combination of prescribing decisions, prioritisation and real-time communication gave students a much richer experience than working through questions in isolation. 

 

Feedback from educators and students continues to shape how we develop the tool, and there is plenty more to come. If you’d like to see the EPS Simulator in action and explore how it might fit into your prescribing curriculum, we’d love to show you around.

 

Request a demonstration at www.bpsassessment.com/eps-simulator

In 2025, BPS Assessment continued to develop and deliver digital learning and assessment tools that support safer prescribing across education and training settings. Over the past year, our focus has been on expanding the reach of the BPS Assessment Hub, improving our platform and products, and responding to the needs of the wider prescribing community.

 

The Hub provides a comprehensive platform for prescribing learning, practice and assessment. Developed with support from UK experts and aligned with current clinical guidance, it supports educators in delivering structured prescribing education, whilst helping learners build the skills required for safe practice. As prescribing safety remains a concern, reliable and well-designed digital tools play an important role in supporting and standardising teaching and assessment.

 

Engagement with the platform continued to grow throughout 2025. More than 26,000 users accessed the Hub, with 18,000 learners actively using our assessment and practice resources. These figures reflect ongoing confidence from universities, training providers, and healthcare organisations using the Hub to support their prescribing programmes.

 

International uptake of the Hub also continued to grow – in addition to strong use across the UK, organisations and independent learners accessed the platform from Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates and other regions, demonstrating its relevance across broad education and training environments.

 

In the past year, we also saw a strong uptake of our assessment resources. The Prescribing Papers Bundle was the most purchased product, combining our three Practice Papers in a discounted bundle. With 120 questions, a 60-item mock exam and detailed feedback, the bundle supports programme delivery and learner preparation for the Prescribing Skills Assessment. In addition, 3,800 learners used PSA Prep, our free resources designed to complement teaching programmes and support medical students with top concerns. 

 

We also continued to invest in innovation, including the development of new tools such as the EPS Simulator, which enables learners to practise prescribing in a simulated electronic prescribing environment.

 

These developments highlight our commitment to supporting organisations and learners with prescribing education as we look forward to a new year of innovation. If your organisation is interested in learning more about how the Hub might support your programmes, please get in touch to book a demo and explore the platform in more detail.

Foundation level prescribers rely on high quality educational resources to develop the clinical judgement and skills they need in practice. The questions they work through during training help build confidence and competence in prescribing safely.

 

We’re looking for three registered doctors or pharmacists who are currently in clinical practice to join our authoring team at BPS Assessment. If you have experience working with foundation level prescribers in the NHS, this is an opportunity to draw on that experience and contribute to educational content that supports their development.

 

As an author, you’ll be crafting and reviewing prescribing education questions across our eight Prescribing Skill Assessment item styles. You’ll be working within our house style guide and PSA blueprint, ensuring everything aligns with standard UK practice and current BNF and NICE guidance. Your role is to create scenarios that reflect the complexity and nuance of clinical practice, with challenges that really test understanding and build competence.

 

We’re asking for around 10 hours per month, which allows you the flexibility to fit this work around your clinical commitments. The remuneration ranges from £35 to £105 per question, depending on the complexity and question type. One thing to note is that being a BPS Assessment author precludes being able to write, edit, review or approve content for the national high-stakes Prescribing Safety Assessment at the same time.

 

The resources you help create will reach thousands of prescribers at a formative stage in their careers. You’ll be contributing to a safer, more competent healthcare workforce and doing it from a position where your clinical expertise directly informs educational excellence.

 

If you’re interested in finding out more, get in touch with Marcus Hughes or Peter Wright at bpsassessment@bps.ac.uk  for a full job description. 

 

We’re excited to hear from clinicians who want to extend their impact beyond their immediate practice and help shape how the next generation learns to prescribe safely.

2025 was a year of significant change for the team, and as we step into 2026, we’re excited to share some exciting news about new appointments to our Board.

 

These appointments bring a wealth of experience, expertise and fresh perspectives that will help shape the future direction of BPS Assessment. We’re delighted to introduce the talented individuals who will be guiding us through the next phase of growth and innovation.

 

Our new Board Members

 

Dr Neha Issar-Brown – Chief Executive Officer, BPS and Managing Director, BPS Assessment

Neha brings over 20 years of strategic and operational leadership across the UK and international health, research and innovation landscape to her dual role as CEO of BPS and MD of BPS Assessment.

 

Her impressive career includes senior leadership roles at major UK scientific and medical organisations, including UK Research and Innovation, the Medical Research Council, Fight for Sight and the Royal Society, where she shaped scientific research strategies, policy and funding at a national level.

 

Most recently, Neha has led several international projects in health and innovation and served as Director of Research and Health Intelligence at Arthritis UK, where she led the development of the charity’s first Research strategy. She currently chairs Quality for the NHS Integrated Care Board for Mid and South Essex, bringing a rich blend of experience across public, private and charity sectors.

 

Neha has led some of the UK’s largest cross-sector collaborations in multiple long-term conditions, precision medicine and healthy ageing. Her experience also includes developing international mobility policy for STEM researchers and serving as an advisory board member for the UK Global Talent route.

 

Dr John Bolodeoku – Chair of the Board

John brings extensive expertise as a Chemical Pathologist, Pharmaceutical Physician and entrepreneur. He completed his MBBS in 1986 from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, followed by an MSc in Clinical Biochemistry from Keble College, Oxford, and an MBA from the University of Liverpool in 2008.

 

As a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (awarded in 2008) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (2021), John has worked in pharmaceutical medicine since 1997 across global, European and local country roles in drug development and medical affairs. He has held senior positions including Director, Senior Director and Vice President of Medical Affairs and Health Economics at Yamanouchi’s European Head Office in the Netherlands.

 

John is currently a Senior Lecturer at King’s College London and serves on several boards, having previously chaired the BPS Assessment Board for six years across two terms. His research interests include lipid metabolism, atherosclerosis and cancer biomarkers.

 

Lucy Murray – Non-Executive Director

Lucy Murray is a Sales Director with a strong track record of growing education and SaaS businesses across the UK and Europe. She brings hands-on experience selling into the same markets that BPS Assessment serves, giving her a practical understanding of how organisations adopt, scale and succeed with learning and assessment solutions, as well as the challenges they face.

 

Lucy has led international expansion for education-focused SaaS products, building commercial teams and partnerships across multiple European markets. She joins the BPS Assessment board to support its continued growth and international reach, helping extend access to high-quality prescribing education and assessment worldwide.

 

Shoshana Bloom – Non-Executive Director

Shoshana is a healthcare consultant with over 25 years’ experience in healthcare, spanning NHS and commercial sectors, working on innovation, digital transformation and service redesign. She works with clients to design and scale commercially, implement new services and technology that delivers measurable clinical, patient experience, and financial results.

 

Shoshana brings previous board-level perspective as a Non-Executive Director at Pharm@Sea Ltd, a subsidiary of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust, alongside prior experience from senior roles in global health businesses. She holds MSc degrees in Global Public Health and Collaborative Healthcare Management and contributes to digital health evidence base through own research and through peer review for international journals.

 

BPS President-Elec 

Professor Simon Maxwell – President-Elect (2026-2028)

We’re also pleased to announce that British Pharmacology Society (BPS) members have voted for Professor Simon Maxwell to become President-Elect, a role he will hold from 1 January 2026 before commencing his Presidency on 1 January 2028.

 

Simon is Professor of Student Learning/Clinical Pharmacology and Director of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics Teaching at the University of Edinburgh. His expertise in developing e-learning strategies to support Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics education has been transformative, and he brings valuable NHS clinical experience through his supervision of acute medical admissions and management of outpatients at increased cardiovascular risk.

 

As former Chair of the BPS Prescribing Committee, Simon was the lead author of the core curriculum for CPT teaching in UK medical schools. He also serves as Medical Director of the Prescribing Safety Assessment, the national online exam for UK medical students and doctors that tests competency in prescribing medicines safely. 

 

He will also be a keynote speaker at the 20th World Congress of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology in Melbourne, Australia, in July 2026.

 

An exciting new chapter

These appointments mark an exciting new chapter for both BPS and BPS Assessment.

 

Professor Sir Mark Caulfield, President of BPS, said: “We are delighted to welcome our new board members. They bring deep expertise in research strategy, clinical practice, governance and a strong commitment to supporting scientific communities. Their leadership will be invaluable as we continue to champion pharmacology and support our diverse membership.”

 

Professor Cherry Wainwright, President of BPS, added: “These appointments come at a pivotal time for our community. The depth of experience and enthusiasm for strategic leadership in science and medicine that our new board members bring will be a tremendous asset as we continue to strengthen our influence and impact.”

 

Dr Neha Issar-Brown commented: “I am delighted to be joining BPS and BPS Assessment at a time when pharmacology has never been more important in the national research and health landscape. I’m excited to work alongside our exceptional community to build on the strong foundation and ensure we continue to drive influence, insight and impact across the UK and globally.”

 

We extend our warmest congratulations to all our new board members and look forward to the expertise and leadership they will bring.

 

We’re pleased to announce that we’ll be holding a symposium at Pharmacology 2025! 

 

The symposium, “Delivering novel prescribing education solutions via the BPS Assessment platform” will bring together leading voices in prescribing education.

 

 If you’re coming to Pharmacology 2025 then make sure you catch us on Thursday 18th December 2025 9:00am-10:45am in the main auditorium. If you haven’t already secured your ticket, registration is available here

 

What we will be talking about

The BPS Assessment platform is a bespoke and robust learning environment capable of hosting the development and delivery of eLearning materials and assessments in the fields of prescribing and pharmacology. 

 

Prescribing and supervising the use of medicines is critical to delivering high quality healthcare, in both hospitals and primary care. Given these complexities, it is perhaps not surprising that poor prescribing is common, with around 5 to 10% of UK prescriptions containing an error. In these circumstances it is important that undergraduate and continuing education provides the training to ensure that all prescribers meet minimum standards of prescribing competency. 

 

With that challenge in mind, the BPS built a bespoke platform to support the hosting of the Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA) on behalf of the British Pharmacological Society (BPS) and UK Medical Schools. 

 

In recent years, it has been developed to provide additional tools for users to support newer approaches to education. This symposium will describe some of those new developments and how the platform is being used to service the needs of prescribing training for postgraduate doctors, undergraduate medical students and pharmacists.

 

We hope that the presentations will inspire other BPS members and attendees to see how the platform could be deployed in their own teaching and assessment.

 

Our speakers

Chair: Professor Simon Maxwell

 

Talk 1: The BPSA platform: new innovations on an established platform – Mr Peter Wright, BPS Assessment

 

Talk 2: Supporting prescribing training for NHS foundation doctors in Ayrshire and Arran Health Board – Sarah McDonald, NHS Ayrshire and Arran; Frances Bendall, NHS Ayrshire and Arran

 

Talk 3: Supporting prescribing training for undergraduate medical students at the University of Manchester – Dr Kurt Wilson and Dr Hiten Mitha, University of Manchester

 

Talk 4: Prescribing skills and the PSA: MPharm students’ perspectives – Clare Murray, Queen’s University, Belfast.

 

Meet with our team

Want to request some dedicated time with our team while you’re at Pharmacology 2025? Book a meeting with us here to ensure you get a one to one session so we can answer your questions and discuss anything you’d like to know on the day.

 

Med Safety Week runs from 3rd to 9th November 2025, marking its tenth anniversary as a global campaign to raise awareness about reporting suspected adverse drug reactions. This year’s theme “we all have the power to make medicines safer” is particularly relevant for medical students, trainees, educators and practising prescribers.

 

Here’s a statistic that might come as a surprise, less than 10% of adverse drug reactions are ever reported. That’s a significant gap when you consider that pharmacovigilance systems rely heavily on these reports to identify safety signals, update prescribing guidance and protect patients.

 

Every unreported adverse drug reaction (ADR) represents a missed opportunity to build a fuller picture of how medicines perform in real-world settings, across diverse patient populations and over extended periods.

 

Using Med Safety Week as a teaching opportunity

Med Safety Week provides a timely reminder to embed pharmacovigilance into your curriculum in a way that feels relevant.

 

When presenting clinical scenarios, you could include opportunities for students to identify potential adverse reactions and discuss whether they’d warrant a report. The MHRA publishes case studies showing how Yellow Card reports have led to regulatory action which can be used as teaching materials to demonstrate the impact of pharmacovigilance in the real world.

 

Ask students to consider questions such as: Have they witnessed a suspected ADR during clinical placements? Was it reported? If not, why not? What were the barriers? This kind of reflective discussion helps identify the practical challenges that lead to underreporting.

 

For students preparing for their prescribing exams The Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA) includes questions on adverse drug reactions and understanding when and how to report suspected side effects is a core competency expected of newly qualified prescribers.

 

Resources for Med Safety Week

The MHRA and Uppsala Monitoring Centre provide free campaign materials that can be used in lectures, shared on social media or displayed in teaching spaces who-umc.org/medsafetyweek

 

BPSA’s own MHRA Yellow Card scheme assessment is a free to use resource that has been developed in partnership with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the British Pharmacological Society (BPS). It provides structured learning across two modules, covering the role of the MHRA and scenario-based case studies on reporting adverse incidents. It’s available through our portal and takes approximately one hour to complete portal.bpsassessment.com/product/yellow-card-scheme

 

Useful links

• MHRA Yellow Card scheme: yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk
• Medical Safety Week campaign materials: who-umc.org/medsafetyweek
• MHRA Yellow Card scheme assessment: portal.bpsassessment.com/product/yellow-card-scheme
• BPS Assessment resources: portal.bpsassessment.com

We’re excited to announce the launch of a brand new electronic prescribing system (EPS) simulator designed for students; the EPS Simulator.

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BPS Assessment is proud to announce the successful deployment of a new Single Sign-On (SSO) integration with Flinders University in Australia. This integration, powered by OKTA, allows students to access our suite of prescribing education resources using the same authentication system used to access key university systems, including their Learning Management System (LMS).

 

This project was made possible by Flinders University, who funded the development in support of a smoother, more connected learning experience for their students. By using their existing university credentials, Flinders students can now explore prescribing resources, including exams, practice papers and eLearning modules, without needing to manage separate usernames or passwords.

 

Peter Wright, Head of Commercial Operations at BPS Assessment, said;

 

“We’re delighted to be working with Flinders University to improve our platform’s user experience in this way. The use of OKTA in this integration provides a robust and secure solution which reduces the admin burden for the schools and their students.”

 

This collaboration reflects BPS Assessment’s commitment to delivering flexible, user-friendly digital solutions that support safer prescribing. The integration helps embed prescribing resources into school curricula with minimal disruption, supporting students as they build confidence in safe and effective prescribing.

 

For institutions interested in exploring SSO integration or embedding prescribing education into their training programmes, please contact team@bpsassessment.com.

In May, the team travelled to the scenic city of Prato, Tuscany, for the Tenth International Clinical Skills Conference, a renowned global event focused on advancing healthcare education. It was a privilege to join forces with our partners at the University of Manchester to showcase the latest developments in prescribing education and to engage with educators from around the world.

 

Introducing the ePrescribing Simulator

At the heart of our presentations was the launch of the new ePrescribing Simulator. This innovative tool has been designed to replicate the functionality of a hospital or primary care electronic prescribing system, allowing educators to present authentic, complex prescribing scenarios in a safe and accessible online environment.

 

The ePrescribing Simulator makes it possible to:

 

• Deliver realistic case-based learning at scale,
• Mirror the pressures and decision-making processes of clinical practice while maintaining a formative learning environment
• Provide immediate feedback on student performance
• Support curricula focused on medication safety and prescribing competence.

 

Importantly, it’s built to be flexible and user-friendly, meaning institutions can integrate it seamlessly into existing courses, whether for undergraduate medical students, pharmacy trainees, or postgraduate learners.

 

A Shared Commitment to Innovation

The response at the conference was overwhelmingly positive. Educators and clinical leads expressed a growing need for tools that can better prepare students for the digital systems they will encounter in practice. Our partnership with the University of Manchester has helped shape this simulator to meet that need, informed by clinical reality.

 

This shared development reflects a broader commitment for BPS Assessment to support institutions in delivering high-quality, practical prescribing education that meets today’s healthcare demands.

 

Looking Ahead

We’re excited to work with more universities and teaching hospitals in the months ahead. The simulator is delivered through the BPS Assessment platform, allowing it to integrate seamlessly with your existing account and workflows. 

 

Whether you’re aiming to enhance your current prescribing curriculum or introduce new tools to build digital prescribing skills and promote safe practice, we’d love to start a conversation.

 

To find out more about the ePrescribing Simulator or to arrange a demo for your institution, please get in touch.