More than 88 per cent of community pharmacy technicians (PTs) would like to expand their role, reveals new research from the University of East Anglia in collaboration with the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK). However, many PTs find the management culture, pharmacists’ unwillingness to relinquish responsibilities and a lack of a career framework and opportunities to be barriers to their career development.

The report – Identifying the roles of pharmacy technicians in the UK – identified the roles of pharmacy technicians and looked at how to take the profession forward to better meet patient needs.

With 393 responses, the report captured the diversity of the role in all sectors. Commenting on the breadth of roles, research author Jane Sutton said she was “astounded at just how big the job of a pharmacy technician is” and fellow author Melanie Boughen described the pharmacy technician’s core skills as “phenomenal”. Yet focus groups said they feel “undervalued and underused”, with many PTs feeling there is a lack of understanding of their role and skills set and a lack of professional recognition.  

Focus groups also revealed that busy environments and the business nature of pharmacies impacted on study time. PTs made suggestions for improving training, including practical workshops, more emphasis on patient-facing skills and IT literacy, and more support to develop time management skills. 

The report makes several recommendations, including:

• Review the education and training needs in light of the roles and activities commonly undertaken and the identified new knowledge and skills which need to be incorporated into pre-registration training 
• Consider qualification requirements for PTs, taking into account the complexity of roles, comparability with other similar healthcare professionals and the need for the profession to develop its own evidence base 
• Review post-registration education and training to ensure that opportunities exist which enable PTs to prepare for the wide variety of roles 
• Develop a career framework to provide a career structure 
• Consider how inter-professional working relationships with pharmacists can be enhanced to ensure that the contribution of both professions is optimised 
• Review the management culture within pharmacy organisations to develop strategies for improvement.