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Nicola Stockmann - President
Nicola Stockmann is the President of the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK). She has previously held roles as Vice-President of APTUK and the APTUK Hampshire branch chair person. She has represented APTUK and the pharmacy technician profession internationally and to give evidence at the Health and Social Care committee. Her APTUK voluntary role is in addition to her role at Hampshire Hospitals Foundation Trust (HHFT) as the Pharmacy Operations Manager & Dispensaries manager, service lead.
She has been a qualified Pharmacy Technician for 11 years and has previously worked in community pharmacy, clinical trials, medicines optimisation and as a Medicines Safety Officer.
Amy has worked within APTUK since 2018 where she has held roles including National Officer - Foundation Frameworks and Director of Education.
Amy has worked in Pharmacy since 2005 in a variety of sectors, all of which led her to academia and her passion for developing and implementing pharmacy courses to support an inclusive and diverse workforce that aims to ensure the safety of medicines for patients and our society.
Having moved into an academic role in 2013, Amy now works at West Suffolk College, part of the Eastern Education group. Since 2019 Amy has led on the implementation of Science Manufacturing Technicians and Science Manufacturing Process operatives within technical services.
Joseph Myers - Membership Director
Joe started his professional journey in London as a graphic designer but unexpectedly found his passion shifting towards pharmacy, to which he has now dedicated nearly a decade. He has experience as a pharmacy technician in various settings throughout the East Midlands and North East Lincolnshire, including community pharmacy and GP practices. Joe's previous responsibilities have ranged from administering vaccines and providing training to dispensing GP practices to holding the position of the responsible person for a wholesale dealer license. His current role is pharmacy operational manager within an acute hospital trust in Lincolnshire. In the pursuit of continuous professional development, Joe is nearing completion of an MBA in leadership.
"It is a privilege to contribute to the advocacy and professional advancement of pharmacy technicians in the UK, and I am fully committed to supporting the goals of APTUK during my tenure."
Philip Jones - Membership Director
Philip Jones has worked in Pharmacy for over 20 years, starting in community pharmacy in Abergavenny, South Wales before making the move to work in technical services in 2001, at Bath ASU based in Bath University.
He then started working in the Parenteral Services Unit at UHBristol and Weston Foundation Trust, where he became a senior Pharmacy Technician and Training Lead. Achievements in this role have been, helping to organise and run the initial covid vaccination hub in UHBW, becoming a registered Product Approver for PN and completing the PTQA Post Graduate Diploma in 2023.
He is now part of the Pharmacy Workforce Development South team as Programme Director for all Technical Services programmes, and in this role has the privilege of being involved in other projects which involve Supervisory Skill training for TSET/Leeds University, and national aseptic projects like the recent review of the EL Audit on behalf of APTUK, as well as being involved in the Infusions and Special Medicines Board Workforce Strategy project, and supporting the re-launch of the APTUK Technical Services Branch.
Vicky’s background is founded on a business studies degree and throughout her career she has gained extensive commercial operational experience including customer/client service, process development and implementation, marketing and team leadership, primarily in service orientated businesses. Vicky has been working in the healthcare arena since 2011, which has provided a keen interest in the rapidly changing patient care landscape.
Vicky works as the Operations Lead for APTUK, the purpose of which is to oversee the leadership and management of APTUKs professional business operations and to support the development and setting of the strategic direction, including key objectives, priorities, and goals.
Lynn has worked as the Membership Coordinator for APTUK since taking early retirement. Lynn initially worked as a community Pharmacy Technician for a large multiple pharmacy chain, and later worked as the Area Pharmacy Administrator covering 50 stores, with the same company. She completed 38 years in total within community pharmacy.
Lynn has been a career long supporter of APTUK, joining as a student member and was an early registrant with the GPhC when it was launched.
As the APTUK leadership structure evolved, and following the significant investment in the website, Lynn’s role expanded to include Secretariat work and support with the financial processes. Lynn values being part of the Executive Committee, supporting it in a variety of ways, whilst still maintaining her focus on helping members with all queries around their membership payments & website access.
Lynn’s priority is accurately maintaining APTUK members’ records and interacting with as many members as possible.
Warren has worked in pharmacy for over 20 years, both in community and in hospital. He now specialises in Pharmacy ICT and robotics and works as a Senior Analyst for the encompass pharmacy build team, who are introducing a digital integrated care record across health and social care. This will replace many of the paper based or outdated technology systems used by all Trusts in Northern Ireland and is anticipated to transform the way people are cared for in the region.
Warren began working as a volunteer for APTUK in 2019 as the NI National Officer, to help bring regulatory change to enable the same career opportunities as pharmacy technicians across the rest of the UK, as a result of being recognised as a registered profession.
The foundations have been put in place that will now allow registration to become a reality in NI over the next few years and it is this potential that continues to motivate Warren in his new post as APTUK Professional Lead for Northern Ireland.
Emily is a Senior Pharmacy Technician in a GP support team in Primary Care, Hywel Dda Health Board.
She started her pharmacy journey as a medicine counter assistant in community pharmacy and quickly learnt that she enjoyed pharmacy so moved to secondary care where she completed the pharmacy technician qualification.
Since then, Emily has held a variety of roles through multi-sectors including technical services, medicines management teams, social care and care homes. She also launched and currently chairs the APTUK Wales branch which has gone from strength to strength. Emily has a passion for education, training and mentoring and loves to network with other like-minded pharmacy technicians.
Melanie Bryan - Professional Lead, Scotland
Melanie has worked in pharmacy for over 30 years, training and working within the hospital sector, undertaking various roles including Aseptic Lead and Dispensary and is currently the Lead Pharmacy Technician in NHS Dumfries & Galloway. In 2019 she successfully applied for cohort 2 of the Scottish Clinical Leadership Fellow (SCLF) programme working with NHS Education for Scotland promoting the role of pharmacy technicians at every opportunity. This then leads to her undertaking her current position as chair of the National Pharmacy Technician Group Scotland (NPTGS).
Taking up the Professional Lead for Scotland role, Melanie says it with allow the two organisations to work together as the profession needs to have a strong leadership voice able to support and empower pharmacy technicians now and in the future developments of the healthcare system. She is excited to join the APTUK executive board to champion the Scottish pharmacy technician voice, share some of the excellent work which is currently underway, and expand her knowledge at a national level to support others.
Donna Bartlett - Professional Lead, England
Donna has been part of the pharmacy workforce for over 30 years and has been fortunate to experience working in multiple sectors including hospital, community, academia, CCG (as was) and non-NHS sector. She is currently Chief Pharmacy Technician for Greater Manchester Mental Health.
“I have always had a passion for demonstrating what pharmacy technicians can do. Taking up the role of Professional Lead for England will allow me to be involved at the start of any changes where the pharmacy profession should be involved and then showcase how pharmacy technicians would be an ideal profession to take these roles on”
Shamma has been practicing as a pharmacy technician for over 11 years - as long as registration has been mandatory for pharmacy technicians. Since qualifying in 2011, she has gained a wealth of experience in secondary, primary and community pharmacy settings, including specialist experience in medicines optimisation, cancer services and aseptic preparation. Currently she works in the primary care sector with work streams based on falls and frailty in the West Midlands. Shamma has volunteered her time in health inequalities projects to benefit population health outcomes for people in the surrounding areas. She has a passion for great patient care and being influential in making a positive impact on the care and health of all those she serves.
Shamma was appointed the EDI Lead role in July 2021, a new and innovative role on APTUK's Executive Committtee. Shamma hopes to facilitate and promote the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion throughout the pharmacy technician workforce across the UK.
"I am honoured and humbled to be representing our technicians on various platforms associated with EDI topics. Its very exciting to be part of such a wonderful organisation and I cannot wait for the challenges ahead. The future for technicians is bright and the APTUK works to amplify the progression and recognition of this profession."
Kristy Garton - Branch Liaison Executive
For the past 5 years she has been a Medicines Safety Pharmacy Technician within Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. During this time Kristy has also been involved in secondment opportunities in EPMA as a Lead EPMA pharmacy technician and designing and implementing a new pharmacy technician lead service within adult mental health as Lead Medicines Administration Pharmacy Technician.
Kristy has passion and drive for education and training and has spent many years coaching and mentoring pharmacy technicians and other professions within the workplace to increase their confidence and passion for their careers and personal development. She uses her experience and knowledge to support and empower pharmacy technicians to reach their goals and maximise their potential and is a strong advocate for the pharmacy technician profession and for driving the profession forward.
Leighton Thompson - Member Observer
Leighton is a Senior Pharmacy Technician with three years of experience in Primary Care, currently working within Health Board Practices in North Wales. His background includes working in both Community Pharmacy and Hospital settings. Leighton's primary objective is to advance the clinical role of pharmacy technicians and pharmacists in GP practice. He is dedicated to upskilling the entire team, including support staff, and has successfully led service redesign and quality improvement projects, developing skills in leadership and management. Currently, Leighton is pursuing a BSc in Health Sciences to further enhance his knowledge and skills.
Atif Akhtar - Member Observer
Atif is a pre–registration pharmacy technician and is in his final year. His background includes working within the NHS since the age of 16, having worked in roles in and around pharmacy. He has worked at Imperial College NHS Trust having joined back in 2018. During the COVID epidemic, he saw firsthand how much potential there was for pharmacy technicians and support staff within the hospital setting, with a hybrid role and enhanced responsibility, he saw the potential to try and establish similar roles after the pandemic ended. Atif’s primary objective is to advance the role of pharmacy technicians within healthcare expanding the role and cementing the vital role pharmacy technicians play and could potentially play within the modern healthcare system. In the future, Atif wishes to pursue higher education which he hopes will aid him in his pursuit to grow the profession.
PTJ Editor - Vacant
We are currently recruiting for this post - more details can be found here: aptuk-jobs
The APTUK Board of Directors and Executive Committee also work closely with:
Elizabeth Harland - Education Advisor
Elizabeth has been a qualified Pharmacy Technician for 34 years. During her career Elizabeth has held positions within a variety of pharmacy sectors; including Industry, The NHS and private healthcare. The roles have included Aseptic Production, Hospital Dispensary, ACPT, MMT, Audit, Compliance, Education and Training. Her current role is Lead Pharmacy Technician for Education & Training and Compliance with HCA Healthcare UK.
Elizabeth is extremely proud to be an advocate for APTUK and is passionate about the development of Education and Training for all Pharmacy Technicians in all sectors of our profession. She looks forward to demonstrating APTUK’s values in her work as Education Advisor. Elizabeth is committed to making a significant contribution to, and having a positive impact on APTUK’s work in the development of education and training for pharmacy technicians, to meet the demands for the future of pharmacy healthcare provision in the primary and secondary sector.
