As pharmacy remains in a muddle about the professional status of pharmacy technicians, what do they think about their newfound standing? We find out what difference registration has really made

Things are slowly changing for pharmacy technicians, but more from the evolution of pharmacy services than a revolution in roles and regulations. The pivotal change that might catapult technicians into a brave new world has yet to come – the best option on the horizon is the Department of Health’s review of ‘supervision’, which has the potential to hand much greater responsibility to technicians.

While pharmacy technicians might say registration has not changed much for them, there is evidence that change is gathering pace. Pharmacists are more prepared to delegate to someone they know is competent and professionally accountable and technicians are playing a leading role in some pharmacies in delivering health and wellbeing services.

Technicians are also slowly coming to terms with what being professionally accountable entails. No technician has yet been struck off for a dispensing error, but it may happen. It is not that they are unaware of the consequences of registration – more that it has yet to fully have an impact.

The professional leader

Joanne Taylor works for Vittoria Healthcare, a small group of independent pharmacies in the North West, where she balances her head office role as professional standards lead with working in branch one or two days per week as an accredited checking pharmacy technician (ACPT).

Joanne is national secretary of the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK), and has been a member since 1998. She represents technicians’ interests in political circles and is a member of the Department of Health’s Rebalancing programme Board.

“You used to see community technicians moving into hospital, but that is not so much the case now,” says Joanne. There used to be a big division between the two, but that has changed, she believes. Training has always been based on competencies and knowledge and the current structure formalises this, and means the skills that are learnt are transferable, she says.

“The roles for technicians in community pharmacy have increased – for example, we now have ACPTs, and technicians are taking on delivery of services such as smoking cessation and weight management,” says Joanne, although she adds that it would be beneficial to have clear roles and a career structure in community pharmacy similar to those in hospital pharmacy.

Her company uses technicians for accuracy checking and a few branches offer technician-led smoking cessation and weight management clinics, needle and syringe exchange, alcohol screening and BP monitoring. Pharmacists are becoming more comfortable with delegating, she believes. “Now that registration is in place, pharmacists are happier to delegate responsibility for doing the final accuracy check,” she says. “Basically, pharmacists need to let go of being tied to the dispensary bench.”

Joanne is well aware that some people question pharmacy technicians’ credentials. “Technicians need to understand what being registered means,” she says. “Some are properly aware and understand the responsibilities that go with their role. It is a priority for APTUK to raise the professional profile. We need to get the message out that there is a professional leadership body for pharmacy technicians. The GPhC has a role here too. Although it does not differentiate between pharmacists and technicians, I feel it has been an inclusive body as far as we are concerned.”

The community technician

Sara (not her real name) works for a medium sized multiple pharmacy. She started working as a medicines counter assistant and followed the training ladder to qualify as a technician in 1996. She left in 2003 to work at a hospital, but switched back to the community sector in 2012.

“I was not aware of plans to regulate technicians when I was doing the course,” she says. “We were told by the hospital that we would have to register or we could not continue to work. I took the grandparent route, but had to do it all myself. I actually registered in 2006. I don’t think at that stage you had to be registered, but I did not understand the situation particularly well.

“I came back to community pharmacy in 2012, into very much the same sort of job. There are more rules and regulations, and some of the paperwork has changed, but the basic job is the same, although there is a lot more pressure to get things done.

“I have taken on some jobs that the pharmacist used to do. The pharmacist doesn’t get that involved in talking to patients on the basic things, and I do more work with the surgeries now.”

Sara is not a member of APTUK. “I’ve not really ever considered joining – I’ve not looked into it, and they have never tried to recruit me,” she says. “I do think it is important that technicians have a representative body though. I don’t have contact with other pharmacy technicians – only the people I work with.

“Is it worth being registered? I can’t see any advantage, but I am able to supervise and advise trainee dispensers doing their coursework towards qualification. We are more accountable for our work now. It puts more pressure on you, but I can’t see any advantages. If I wasn’t registered, I would still be doing the same job. I have no idea whether I get paid extra because I don’t know what the others are earning.”

The hospital technician

Sue Shrubb retired in September 2014 from being a senior hospital pharmacy technician.

“The concept of registration has been going on for such a long time, ever since I was a student,” says Sue. “It is good that technicians are now recognised as being part of a profession rather than just a job. Pharmacy technicians need to be regulated and accountable.”

But, in reality, registration has not made a lot of difference, she says. “In hospital there are lots of recognised roles for technicians and it has made little difference to day-to-day working. You are perhaps more aware of your professional responsibilities and CPD requirements though.

“Becoming registered did not change my role in the NHS. Things from the GPhC are still very pharmacist orientated. There is a need for the technician side of things to be promoted more.”

Sue thinks it is bizarre that the GPhC makes no differentiation between pharmacists and technicians in the way the two are regulated, and she sees a huge disparity in the skills of community and hospital technicians. “Pharmacy technicians who have moved from community to hospital are like rabbits in the headlights,” she says. “The responsibility and authority that technicians have in hospital is vastly different. In community, their role gets blurred with dispensing assistants. Plenty of people want to move from community to hospital though – they see it as a way of developing their career.”

Sue questions whether registration is value for money. “Probably not”, is her conclusion.

The professional body

As the professional leadership body for pharmacy technicians, APTUK aims to help technicians understand the reasons for professional regulation and their responsibilities, particularly as they begin to work outside of ‘direct’ supervision. “Being a member of APTUK makes it visible to patients and colleagues that you are committed to professional excellence,” says APTUK president Tess Fenn. To influence the work of APTUK, Tess urges pharmacy technicians to join and make a difference.