In People & team training

Follow this topic

Bookmark

Record learning outcomes

Training your team and ensuring everyone's knowledge is up-to-date are important CPD triggers. We suggest that you get the team together for a training session based on the activities below and discuss the various ways in which you can offer customers and patients added care in this category.

 

Subject: sore throat

This Train Your Team checklist provides support and information to run a team training session on sore throats. This content can also be used for your own CPD.

Reflection

• Do we see sore throat as an opportunity to check on a customers’ smoking status?
• Can I explain to my assistants how each of the ingredients in OTC remedies for sore throat works?
• Do they know which OTC remedies are suitable for sore throat in children of different ages under the age of six years?
• Do we explain that many infectious sore throats are caused by viruses, so antibiotics are not required?
• Do I consider poor steroid inhaler technique as a cause of hoarseness and candidal infection in the throat and mouth?
• Do I consider previous courses of antibiotics or steroids as causes of fungal sore throats?

Training checklist

Ensure support staff understand the following key points:

• How and why a sore throat occurs
• The common infectious and non-infectious causes
• Symptoms of an infectious sore throat
• Questions to ask a customer presenting with a sore throat
• Symptoms that should cause concern
• The key ingredients in OTC remedies for sore throat and how they work
• The safe and appropriate use of OTC analgesics to relieve the pain of sore throats
• When to refer symptoms of sore throat to the pharmacist.

I will:

• Update my knowledge of sore throat and its management
• Ensure the pharmacy team understands the importance of, and puts into practice, good hygiene measures to prevent the spread of respiratory and other infections
• Train my pharmacy assistants to ensure that they can meet the points in this training checklist and consider this training exercise for inclusion in my CPD record.

Practice point

• Some people are at particular risk if they develop a sore throat. Could you identify these at-risk groups? See: NHS Choices: sore throat