Experts have called for a different class of MCAs to help improve pharmacy advice following last year’s damaging Which? survey. Asha Fowells reports

OTC champions – a group of medicines counter assistants who are highly knowledgeable about OTC medicines and skilled in dealing with customers – should be introduced to pharmacies in a similar way to health champions and Dementia Friends, a pharmacy training expert has suggested.

Hannah Stretton, head of professional services at Buttercups Training, pointed out the inequality in attitudes that exist towards medicines counter assistants (MCAs) and dispensing assistants working in community pharmacies. Both groups are trained to NVQ Level 2 or equivalent, yet MCAs are often considered to be of a lower grade both in knowledge and pay terms. Ms Stretton added that this opinion was not only held by pharmacists and dispensary staff, but also by MCAs themselves, many of whom aspire to work in the dispensary rather than on the counter or shop floor.

 

Following up Which?

Ms Stretton was speaking at an event organised by the General Pharmaceutical Council and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to look at the progress made since the consumer magazine Which? published a report in 2013 that highlighted the variability in medicines advice provided by pharmacies across the UK. Ms Stretton said that despite the fact that almost all of those who had completed a Buttercups MCA course said they wanted to undertake further training, the uptake of formal continuing professional development (CPD) was low.

Reckitt Benckiser’s Yvette Davies confirmed that an “appetite for learning” existed among pharmacy support staff. The national field sales strategy director said that RB-run training that used to attract around 30 people per session now regularly had turnouts in the 70s, and some had even drawn in up to 300 attendees. However, she said that pharmacy staff faced a huge challenge in trying to keep their learning “active” and embedding what they had picked up in a training session in their day to day work.

Think and talk

A new approach to staff training was suggested by pharmacist proprietor Reena Barai, who said that she had moved away from a teaching model to a method she described as “think and talk”. By everyone sitting down together, often without a set agenda, individuals were more likely to share personal experiences, come up with ideas and generally engage with CPD. Ms Barai also explained how she had recently redesigned her pharmacy so the counter and dispensary ran in one unbroken line. This, and encouraging staff to use the consultation room on the shop floor with customers if they felt it was appropriate “allows good advice to flourish”, she commented.