Role analysis will be used to identify the roles of pharmacy technicians in the early years of their careers, in a new project launched by the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK) and Health Education England (HEE).

Announced at the annual APTUK Conference on 13 September 2019, the project will be run by the Work Psychology Group in partnership with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and will reflect pharmacy technician roles across the health systems of the four UK home nations, according to APTUK.

It will include desk research, comparison with foundation training programmes in other professions, as well as focus groups. Then at the start of 2020, the RPS and APTUK will invite technicians to participate in a survey to ensure all views are captured.  

APTUK says it expects to use the analysis to provide a guide and review of a UK wide Foundation Pharmacy Technician Framework that will inform professional capabilities to be tested at the point of entry, during development and upon completion of post qualification training programmes. HEE will also use the analysis to support the development of a flexible workforce which is both competent and confident to work across care settings, in line with the NHS Long Term Plan.

After the announcement, Liz Fidler, president of APTUK commented: “This work is critical to enable the full range of skills and knowledge of the pharmacy technician profession to be fully utilised. Understanding the skillset of pharmacy technicians is a key enabler to ensuring pharmacy services can evolve through effective skill mix within the pharmacy team. The results of this analysis will lead to supporting an evidence based career pathway underpinned by standardised education, which will benefit the patients and the pharmacy profession.”

Gail Fleming, RPS director of education, said: “For pharmacy to optimise its role in a multidisciplinary environment, the contribution of each member of the pharmacy team needs to be defined and recognised. This work is an important step in understanding the current and future roles of pharmacy technicians across different sectors of practice. We are delighted to be involved and to proactively support the development of the whole pharmacy team.”