In Member News
APTUK are thrilled to announce that the Royal College of General Practitioners has endorsed the APTUK/PCPA National Competency Framework for Primary Care Pharmacy Technicians (NCF).
The framework has been designed and developed to support safe practice and professionalism in primary care, inform the education and training requirements and further the professional development of pharmacy technicians working in this sector.
In November 2021, APTUK made an application to the Honorary Secretaries at the RCGP for formal endorsement of the National Competency Framework for Primary Care Pharmacy Technicians. We are pleased to announce that this application was successful and RCGP have granted formal endorsement of the framework.
On receiving the news from the RCGP, Mary Carter (Project Lead and Lead Author for the NCF) comments;
‘Gaining the endorsement by The Royal College of General Practitioners brings further credibility to the APTUK/PCPA National Competency Framework and reflects the recognition of the value of the framework in supporting the wider primary care team.
RCGP endorsement provides assurance that the framework reflects the relevant knowledge and skills for pharmacy technicians to enable them to support GPs to provide the best possible care for their patients as part of the primary care multidisciplinary team.
We are proud to be granted this formal endorsement by RCGP and be allowed to display the RCGP logo on the framework in support of this endorsement and association.
The focus on ensuring that the primary care pharmacy technician workforce is adequately trained and well placed to support medicines optimisation whether employed by a PCN or not has never been greater and the RCGP endorsement is step further in ensuring that this workforce is fully supported.’
The NCF supports an assessment process whereby education and training providers can submit their relevant training provision for mapping and approval against national framework standards.
Programmes that meet the relevant standards will be approved and permitted to use the APTUK and PCPA approval logos to demonstrate that the programme meets the requirements of the relevant national standard.
Ellen Williams, Vice President APTUK has been working closely with Mary Carter and the rest of the team who have developed the programme, said:
“We are absolutely delighted that the hard work and expertise of the whole team has been recognised by the RCGP through their endorsement of the framework. We are hopeful that as a result of the assessment process, we will continue to be a key driving force in ensuring high educational standards for personal development for pharmacy technicians”
For more information on the APTUK/PCPA National Competency Framework for Primary Care Pharmacy Technicians or the assessment process, please follow the links below:
The APTUK/PCPA National Competency Framework for Primary Care Pharmacy Technicians