Question 1

What is PPets and who is it for?

Accepted Answer

PPets — PharmProfessionals Education & Training Specialists Ltd — is a UK pharmacy education company. We offer structured courses, one-to-one mentoring, and interactive training apps that let pharmacy staff practise the conversations, skills and decisions they make every day in a safe environment. Our apps are used by Level 2 counter assistants, Level 2 pharmacy assistants, Level 3 pharmacy technicians and pharmacy professionals across community and hospital settings. Whether you're an MPharm student preparing for placement, a Level 2 dispenser working towards competence, or a hospital pharmacy technician refreshing your medicines reconciliation, the simulations adapt to your role.

Question 2

How is PPets different from a textbook or standard e-learning?

Accepted Answer

Most pharmacy e-learning is read-and-click: passages of text followed by multiple-choice quizzes. That tests recall, not consultation skill. PPets uses generative AI to create patients and customers with personalities — they hesitate, change their minds, mention symptoms in passing, and respond to the questions you actually ask. You apply the WWHAM framework live, decide whether to recommend a product or refer, and get feedback comparing your conversation to the ideal one. It's the closest you can get to counter or ward practice without a real patient in front of you.

Question 3

What's the difference between Pharmacy Counter and POM Counselling Trainer?

Accepted Answer

Pharmacy Counter is for over-the-counter (OTC) consultations — the everyday conversations counter staff have about coughs, colds, hay fever, skin conditions and pain. It's pitched at counter assistants and Level 2 dispensers, with 64 scenarios, 38 Learning Hub topics and 190 quiz questions. POM Counselling Trainer is for prescription-only medicines counselling — inhaler technique, anticoagulants, cytotoxics, steroids and mental-health medicines — aimed at pharmacy professionals and support staff, with 27 scenarios and BNF/EMC-aligned scoring. Both apps share one PPets login, so progress moves with you as your role grows.

Question 4

What is the WWHAM framework and how does PPets teach it?

Accepted Answer

WWHAM is the gold-standard mnemonic for over-the-counter (OTC) consultations: Who is it for, What are the symptoms, How long has it been going on, Action already taken, Medication being taken. It's the structured way to gather enough information to give safe advice — or to recognise when to refer. Every scenario in the Pharmacy Counter app scores you on whether you covered each WWHAM letter, gathered relevant red-flag information, and made an appropriate recommendation. You see your WWHAM completeness score after each conversation and can compare your approach to the ideal one in the debrief.

Question 5

How does PPets help me recognise red flags?

Accepted Answer

Red flags are the specific symptoms or contexts that mean an OTC consultation needs to become a referral — sudden severe headaches, blood in vomit, chest pain on exertion, unexplained weight loss, medication overuse headaches, suspected meningitis, and so on. Several Pharmacy Counter scenarios are deliberately built around red-flag presentations. The patient's words won't always make the danger obvious, so you have to ask the right questions to surface it. After the consultation, the debrief shows you which red flag(s) were present and whether you correctly recognised the need to refer to the pharmacist or GP.

Question 6

Is the training aligned with GPhC standards and the BNF?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Scenarios and learning content are written to match the General Pharmaceutical Council's standards for pharmacy professionals and pharmacy technicians, with counselling advice consistent with the British National Formulary (BNF) and BNF for Children. The Pharmacy Counter app's scoring rubric draws on the same competency areas the GPhC inspects: information gathering, decision-making, product knowledge and counselling. Branded PDF reports of completed scenarios serve as evidence of competence for inspections, audits and individual performance reviews.

Question 7

Can I use PPets to evidence CPD or revalidation?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Each completed scenario produces a downloadable PDF with the date, scenario summary, your WWHAM score, the decisions you made, and key learning points. Many users include these in their CPD portfolios as evidence of 'Application to Practice' entries. For revalidation, PPets activity can support both your CPD records (planned and unplanned learning) and reflective accounts. We don't accredit the records ourselves — your responsible pharmacist or training body decides what evidence they accept — but the underlying records are detailed and time-stamped.

Question 8

How long does a typical scenario take?

Accepted Answer

A typical OTC consultation in the Pharmacy Counter app runs 3–5 minutes for the conversation, plus 2–3 minutes of debrief. That fits inside a tea break or quiet 10 minutes between customers. Speed Rounds are even shorter — 60-second scenarios designed to drill rapid red-flag recognition. The Learning Hub topic pages take 5–10 minutes each. Most learners complete the full 64-scenario library across 4–6 hours, spread over a few weeks. Daily challenges and spaced-repetition quizzes encourage shorter, regular sessions rather than long cramming.

Question 9

What devices and browsers does PPets work on?

Accepted Answer

PPets is browser-based, so there's nothing to install. It works best in Google Chrome, and also runs on Safari, Firefox and Edge — on desktop, tablet and mobile. Many counter staff use it on their personal phones during breaks, while branch managers tend to use a desktop or laptop for the admin dashboard. Internet Explorer is not supported. We recommend keeping your browser up to date for the best AI conversation experience.

Question 10

What's included in the free tier versus the paid plans?

Accepted Answer

The Free tier gives you 3 respiratory scenarios, the respiratory-themed Learning Hub pages and quiz questions, and basic progress tracking — no card needed. Individual (£7.99/month or £69.99/year) unlocks the full 64-scenario library, every Learning Hub topic, the spaced-repetition system, PDF reports, achievement badges and Speed Rounds. Organisation (£3.99/user/month, minimum 5 seats) adds an admin dashboard, team progress overview, bulk user management, branded certificates, a GPhC inspection evidence pack and a dedicated account manager.

Question 11

How does organisation pricing work for pharmacy chains?

Accepted Answer

Organisation plans start at 5 seats, billed monthly at £3.99 per user, and scale to large multiples. You assign seats to staff, and the admin dashboard shows individual progress, scenarios completed, and badge earnings. Branch managers can pull team-level reports for performance reviews. For larger groups (50+ seats), invoice billing is available and we can produce a custom GPhC inspection evidence pack covering all enrolled staff. Get in touch via the contact form or admin@ppets.co.uk for a quote.

Question 12

Who creates and reviews PPets content?

Accepted Answer

PPets content is written and clinically reviewed by UK pharmacy professionals with experience in community and hospital practice. Every scenario is checked against the BNF and current GPhC counselling guidance before it's published. We update content on a rolling basis when guidelines change — for example, when an OTC product moves to POM, when the BNF revises a counselling point, or when new red-flag presentations emerge. If you spot something that doesn't read right, email admin@ppets.co.uk — we take clinical accuracy reports seriously and respond quickly.

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