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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.
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 a large acute hospital trust in Lincolnshire. Joe has an MBA in Leadership, taking a particular interest in behaviour and interrelations research. In the pursuit of continuous professional development, he is now studying for an MSc in Psychology.
"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 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.
Andrew is a Senior Medicines Management Technician working as part of a community-based multi-disciplinary team in Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.
His pharmacy career began as a care home services dispenser, working for a large multiple pharmacy chain whilst he studied for a degree in Journalism at Cardiff University. Shortly after graduating he made the move to secondary care where he completed my pharmacy technician qualification. During his time at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, he enjoyed roles in technical services, medicines management and dispensary services. Andrew transitioned into primary care, working as part of the prescribing support team before settling in his current role. He has a passion for education and professional development and recently completed a diploma in Clinical Pharmacy Services and Therapeutics.
Andrew has been fortunate to witness first-hand the amazing work undertaken by pharmacy technicians across the NHS. He endeavours to further champion the pharmacy technician role as part of the great team at APTUK and looks forward to this next chapter of his pharmacy career.
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.
Linda has been a Pharmacy Technician for 30+ years. She spent the early part of her career in Acute Care sector in Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC), working in the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Inverclyde Royal Hospital and the Western Infirmary in Glasgow. She also worked for a year with the Ministry of Defence as a Pharmacy Technician.
Linda moved into Primary Care in 2008 working as a Prescribing Support Technician, and has worked in different settings in Primary Care including GP Surgeries, Intermediate Care Units and Care Homes. At the beginning of the pandemic she had the opportunity to work as part of the team to deliver a Pharmacy Service for the Scottish Nightingale Hospital called the Louisa Jordan Hospital.
Linda was one of the Scottish Clinical Leadership Fellows (September 2021-September 2022). Her project for that year was to define advanced practice for Pharmacy Technicians. This led to a further secondment opportunity in NHS Education Scotland (NES) to work with the National Pharmacy Technician Group Scotland (NPTGS) to create a development pathway for Pharmacy Technicians and Pharmacy Support Staff.
Kyle Winn is currently Head of Production for the North East and North Cumbria Medicines Manufacturing Centre. This is one of the five pathfinder aseptic hubs under the hub and spoke workstream of the infusions and special medicines programme.
Prior to this Kyle worked within Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trusts Manufactures Specials licenced facility, where he held the key roles of Head of Production and Head of Quality. During this time, he was part of the team that successfully gained the MS authorisation and has since led on a number of MHRA inspections to date.
Kyle is a registered Pharmacy Technician who studied at The University of Manchester to achieve a Master's Degree (MSc) in Pharmaceutical Technology and Quality Assurance in 2017.
“I am thrilled to begin this journey and feel incredibly honoured to represent the profession within APTUK during Trudy Krysta’s maternity leave. My passion for being a Pharmacy Technician has always been unwavering, and I am eager to support the vision of APTUK during this exciting period for our profession.”
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 has been a pharmacy technician working in the NHS for over 20 years, mostly in medicines management and optimisation positions within acute hospital environments.
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.
Diane has been a qualified Pharmacy Technician for 35 years, working mainly in the Southwest of England. She currently works as a medicines optimisation pharmacy technician with Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust working across both mental and physical health wards including older adults mental health and stroke rehabilitation.
Diane is looking forward to working with the rest of the editorial team to produce the Pharmacy Technician Journal.
Laura started her pharmacy journey back in 1994, working as a dispenser for Boots. Since qualifying as a pharmacy technician in 2000, she has been fortunate to work in a variety of roles across the UK, including both NHS and private hospital settings, PCT, community pharmacy and GP practice. All of this via the Lake District, Brighton, London, Sheffield and now Manchester.
Laura has a FdSc in Medicines Management & Pharmacy Services and is a UKMi accredited pharmacy technician, with a background in clinical governance and medicines information. She is currently employed as a Medication Safety Officer at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, with a drive to raise awareness of medicines safety through increasing yellow card reporting across the trust.
Laura is a great believer in the power of words to engage and inspire individuals to achieve their potential. She has always enjoyed combining her two passions of pharmacy and writing to inform, engage and entertain others, via her own social media accounts and with published pharmacy articles.
Laura said “To quote the late Robin Williams - No matter what anyone tells you, words and ideas can change the world – I’m so excited to be involved in the future plans and development of APTUK”
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 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.
