GPhC Council Agree Implementation Date for Revised Criteria for Registration as a Pharmacy Technician

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GPhC Council Agree Implementation Date for Revised Criteria for Registration as a Pharmacy Technician

At it’s Council meeting this week (8th March 2018), the GPhC agreed that revised criteria for registration as a pharmacy technician in Great Britain will come into effect on 31 August 2018.  This is planned to be in advance of the 2018-2019 academic year.  The criteria set out the required education, training and experience needed in order to register as a pharmacy technician.

The Council agreed new standards for the initial education and training (IET) of pharmacy technicians along with two key changes to the criteria for registration as a pharmacy technician in September 2017 following a public consultation. The consultation ran for 12 weeks, from 8th December 2016 and closed on 1 March 2017.

The two key changes are:

  • To allow pre-registration trainee pharmacy technicians training in the UK to train under the direction, supervision or guidance of a pharmacy technician or pharmacist;
  • To remove the option for current or recently registered pharmacists in the UK to register automatically as a pharmacy technician.

 

Tess Fenn, APTUK President, responded to the news by saying: 

“APTUK welcomes these changes.  We support the move to allow pre-registration trainee pharmacy technicians (PTPT’s) training in the UK to train under the direction, supervision or guidance of a pharmacy technician or pharmacist and believe this demonstrates  the professionalism, expertise and value of pharmacy technicians in supporting the training and development of PTPT’s. The training and supervision of PTPT’s in many organisations is delivered under the leadership of experienced Pharmacy Technicians. We share the GPhC’s view that now that pharmacy technicians are an established registrant group, we think that PTPT’s should be able to be supervised by the registrant group they intend to join. We would advocate that achievement of the IET standards by PTPT’s is supported in the workplace by a training programme that all of the profession contribute to, ensuring a collaborative and inclusive approach to training which exposes the PTPT to all of the pharmacy team whose role, skills and knowledge contribute to patient care”.

In respect of the change to remove the option for current or recently registered pharmacists in the UK to register automatically as a pharmacy technician, Tess added: “The training, knowledge and skills set required to work as a pharmacy technician are described within the IET and where there may be the same provided within a pharmacist’s qualifications there are also differences.  Therefore it is APTUK’s belief that pharmacists wanting to register as pharmacy technicians should meet the same IET outcomes for PTPTs but prior education and training should be recognised by course providers”. 

 

In preparing APTUK’s response to the GPhC IETs we sought the views of members and non-member Pharmacy Technicians.  Feedback was collected at three virtual meetings and through branch meetings. 

You can read APTUK’s response here

In addition, Dalgeet Puaar, APTUK Director for Professional Development was invited by the GPhC to be a member of the group that revised the initial education and training (IET) standards for pharmacy technicians.

You can read the GPhC’s consultation analysis report here

This report provides a summary of the responses to the consultation.  The GPhC received written responses from 76 organisations (including APTUK) and 281 individuals.  The majority of individual respondents identified themselves as a pharmacy professional of which around 83 per cent (217) said they were pharmacy technicians while around 16 per cent were pharmacists (43). Just above 3.5 per cent (10) said they were a pre-registration trainee pharmacy technician (PTPT).

Around 320 individuals and representatives of organisations attended a number of stakeholder consultation events hosted by the GPhC.  A list of attending organisations is contained in the report. 

You can read the Standards for the Initial Education and training of Pharmacy Technicians here

 

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