Scottish pharmacists will from next month be able to test their patient skills on a family of avatars, through a training tool developed for the delivery of the chronic medication service (CMS).

Pharmacists can question virtual patients about their long-term conditions, the patients will respond to their queries and later give feedback on the pharmacists' consultation skills, through the online programme developed by Keele University and NHS Education for Scotland (NES).

Tom Cullen, a 72-year-old man suffering from pulmonary disease, is the first character to be developed and available for the programme. He will be joined by the rest of the Cullen family, including 50-year-old Sam with hyperlipidaemia, 55-year-old Elaine with hypertension and 11-year-old Beth with asthma.

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	As each avatar responds to questions about their conditions, pharmacists are required to complete an online care plan, which they can compare to a pre-prepared version. The avatar would be able to provide a verbal assessment of the pharmacist's consultation skills at the end of the scenario.

CMS requires Scottish pharmacists to assess patients with long-term conditions and document them on an electronic care plan.

Accessing the training programme online would mean "pharmacists can familiarise themselves with CMS at a time convenient to them", said Stephen Chapman, head of Keele University's school of pharmacy.

"Using this innovative technology solves two big challenges for establishing or checking competencies for community pharmacists – accessing appropriate cases and standardising the process," he added.

Community pharmacists in Scotland are invited to register free with the NES portal from December.