Role: Pharmacy Technician
Pharmacy technicians manage the supply of medicines in a community pharmacy and assist pharmacists with advisory services. In hospitals, they can undertake more specialised work such as manufacturing or preparing complex medicines, as well as enforcing medicines management.
Pharmacy technicians are part of the pharmacy team, preparing and dispensing medicines.
Responsibilities:
Taking in and handing out prescriptions
Dispensing prescriptions
Using computer systems to generate stock lists and labels
Ordering items
Receiving, loading, unloading deliveries
Delivering medicines to other parts of a hospital or health centre
Selling over-the-counter medicines
Answering customers questions face to face or by phone
Pre-packing, assembling and labelling medicines
Managing other staff members and the dispensary
Preparing medicines
Referring problems or queries to the pharmacist
Training to become a pharmacy technician usually takes two years.
Pharmacy technicians work as part of healthcare teams in hospitals or community pharmacies.
Entry requirements:
To practice as a pharmacy technician, you have to be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). To register, you need to study for an accredited qualification such as:
BTEC National Diploma in Pharmaceutical Science
NVQ Level 3 in Pharmacy Services
National Certificate in Pharmaceutical Science
To apply for a course, you need to be working in a pharmacy. Employers offer jobs for trainee pharmacy technicians (or dispensing assistants).
Employers usually ask for at least 4 GCSEs (A-C), including English, maths and science or equivalent qualifications. It will help your application if you can show that you have an understanding of pharmacy and how it benefits patients.
Pharmacy Technicians need to be:
Accurate and methodical
Responsible
Able to pay attention to detail
Ready to refer to the pharmacist when necessary
Able to understand law and guidelines on medicines
Able to read and carry out instructions
Interested in people’s health
Willing to work with all types of people
Able to explain clearly to members of the public
Communication skills including listening
Good customer skills
Science skills
Good manual (hand) skills
IT skills
Organisation skills
Training and development
Training to become a pharmacy technician usually takes two years. It combines practical work experience with study, either at college or by distance learning. Courses cover:
Human physiology
Disease management
Actions and uses of medicine pharmacy manufacturing
Pharmacy law
In order to practise in Great Britain, pharmacy technicians must be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and have satisfied the Council that it meets its detailed requirements. Registered pharmacy technicians have to keep their skills and knowledge up to date with annual continuing professional development (CPD).