DPP Support
| DPP Support | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Education |
| Industry | Education |
| Founded | 2025 |
| Founder | Philip Xiu |
| Website | https://dppsupport.co.uk |
DPP Support is a United Kingdom online directory service that connects independent prescribing trainees with Designated Prescribing Practitioners (DPPs), the qualified healthcare professionals required to supervise and assess trainees during the period of learning in practice. Operating at dppsupport.co.uk, the platform is described by NHS regional training hubs as an NHS England endorsed directory. DPP Support addresses a recognised bottleneck in United Kingdom prescribing education: the limited availability and visibility of practitioners willing and qualified to act as DPPs, a constraint affecting pharmacists, nurses and allied health professionals undertaking independent prescribing qualifications. In 2025 the platform was named a finalist in the West Yorkshire Mayor's Big Ideas Challenge, a £1 million innovation programme addressing regional health inequalities.
History and founding
DPP Support emerged in response to a structural constraint in United Kingdom prescribing education. NHS England guidance defines the DPP as a healthcare professional with legal independent prescribing rights who mentors and supervises the trainee during the period of learning in practice, and requires that the DPP be suitably experienced and qualified for the supervisory role. Because the pool of eligible supervisors is finite and not centrally catalogued, trainees have historically relied on employer networks, university-held lists and informal professional contacts to secure a DPP. Regional training hub material describes access to prescribing supervision as a particular challenge within the sector. The specific circumstances in which Dr Xiu identified this gap, and his stated rationale for establishing the platform, are not documented in the sources reviewed.
Services and operations
DPP Support functions as a searchable directory rather than a paid intermediary. Trainees search listings by geographic location and by the practitioner's scope of practice, review practitioner profiles, and make contact directly. Qualified prescribers register to create a profile describing their clinical setting, specialism and supervisory approach. Practitioner listings are published under a profile organised by location, and profiles may carry a "Verified" designation based on location and positioning of their professional register
The platform is described in sector communications as free to both trainees and DPPs, with no registration or intermediary fees, and with supervision arrangements agreed directly between the trainee and the practitioner. This model distinguishes DPP Support from several comparable United Kingdom services that position themselves as managed intermediaries and levy placement or brokerage fees. The service positions itself around four functions. The first is access, in the form of a consolidated, searchable listing of available supervisors. The second is trust, deriving from its endorsement by NHS regional structures. The platform is additionally described as operating to NHS-standard data security; this claim is not independently evidenced in the sources reviewed. The third is simplicity, through directory search and direct registration. The fourth is workforce development, encouraging experienced prescribers to take up supervisory roles and thereby expanding national supervisory capacity.
Alongside the directory, DPP Support publishes reference material for trainees, including a structured FAQ covering DPP eligibility criteria, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society DPP Competency Framework, the minimum ninety hours of supervised learning in practice, the distinction between a DPP and a Designated Medical Practitioner, university entry requirements for independent prescribing courses, and NHS England course funding arrangements.
Notable achievements and impact
DPP Support has received consecutive Teach and Treat grants from NHS England in support of the DPP Support platform. The Teach and Treat model is an NHS England workforce development mechanism designed to expand clinical supervision and training capacity by funding services that combine patient care delivery with structured educational placement provision.
In July 2025, the West Yorkshire DPP Support and Prescribing Support Platform was selected as one of nineteen finalists in the Mayor's Big Ideas Challenge, receiving a £20,000 award and a development support package. The challenge was launched by Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, in February 2025, led by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, funded by the United Kingdom Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and delivered by Challenge Works, part of the innovation foundation Nesta. The Challenge Works finalist listing describes DPP Support as a digital platform offering the region's pharmacists training, mentorship and peer support, intended to improve patient access, support safer prescribing and address local health inequalities.
The finalist announcement was covered by the Yorkshire Post and distributed through the newswire service Pressat. On 10 March 2026, following seven months of development and testing, three winners were announced, each receiving £100,000: Asclepius MedTech Ltd, Harmonai Hub and Mind Body Goals. DPP Support was recognised as a highly commended participant, runner-up.
The platform reports partnerships with NHS integrated care and training hub bodies covering West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Humber and North Yorkshire, and Lancashire and South Cumbria, together with the Local Pharmaceutical Committees for those regions and the National Pharmacy Association. A post by a Lancashire and South Cumbria sector professional cites over one hundred successful trainee-DPP matches through the platform.
Leadership and governance
Dr Philip Xiu, a general practitioner based in Leeds, founded DPP Support. Dr Xiu is listed on the platform as a DPP associated with Alwoodley Medical Centre in Leeds, where his profile states he has supervised more than fifteen independent prescribing trainees across a range of university courses.
Operational contact for the service is given as the West Yorkshire Primary Care Workforce and Training Hub, based at The Ridge Medical Practice in Bradford, indicating an operational relationship with regional NHS workforce infrastructure.