Liz Fidler shines a light on the APTUK inaugural showcase event’s key themes of professional development and the Pharmacy Integration Fund

On 6 April 2019, the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK) held its inaugural showcase event at the General Pharmaceutical Council in London.

The showcase provided pharmacy technicians with the opportunity to hear key headlines of the work APTUK is currently undertaking on behalf of its members. The programme was broad and offered attendees a teaser for the fantastic sessions lined up for the APTUK Annual Professional Conference in September.

If you weren’t able to attend the showcase event but want to know more about what our pharmacy technician leaders had to say – particularly about the new pharmacy technician qualification – the sessions were filmed and have been made available the APTUK website. 

However, I would like to take this opportunity to pick out one of the sessions that I think will be of interest.

The Pharmacy Integration Fund

The Pharmacy Integration Fund (PhIF) provides opportunities for pharmacy technicians to attend NHS-funded training to enhance their role and the service provided to patients. 

The PhIF commissions and delivers a range of training and development programmes to support the development of the community pharmacy profession through a partnership arrangement with NHS England. The training and development is aimed at pharmacy professionals working in community pharmacy and care homes, and at pharmacists working in Integrated Urgent Care and NHS 111. The training supports the NHS England programmes aimed at developing new ways of working in integrated local care models and in alignment with the NHS Long Term Plan.

There are currently two programmes open to the pharmacy technician workforce: the Accuracy Checking Pharmacy Technician Programme and Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes (MOCH).

Dalgeet Puaar joined the PhIF programme team on 1 April and is responsible for managing a range of projects at Health Education England (HEE) specifically for pharmacy technicians. If you would like to discuss the PhIF training opportunities listed above or to share your thoughts on what education and training would complement your role, you can contact Dalgeet by emailing: dalgeet.puaar@hee.nhs.uk. Or if you’d like more information, visit the HEE website. 

My pledge

As president of APTUK, I have pledged my support for enhancing the offer made to community pharmacy technicians in terms of professional development and networking opportunities. I aim to ensure a wider representation of the sector and to advise the APTUK board of directors on what the needs of community pharmacy technicians are and what they require from a professional leadership body.