PSNC to expand pharmacy technician role – The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) are currently in the negotiating the expanding of the role of the pharmacy technician to provide more key services within a pharmacy. The negotiation is for years 4 and 5 of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) 5-year deal in place between the PSNC, Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and NHS England, and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I).
Pharmacy technicians are part of the Pharmacy Support Staff. They are permitted to carry out various high-level activities in the pharmacy under a pharmacists’ supervision. Pharmacy technicians have been regulated in the United Kingdom since July 2011, when it became mandatory that they must be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). The role includes –
- Supply medicines to patients, whether on prescription or over the counter
- Assemble medicines for prescriptions
- Provide information to patients and other healthcare professionals
- Manage areas of medicines supply such as dispensaries
- Supervise other pharmacy staff
- Produce medicines in hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry
It is planned for years 4 and 5 (2023-2024) of the 5-year deal that pharmacy technicians will be able to provide both the national hypertension case-finding service and the smoking cessation service.
In the future, pharmacy technicians may have their role expanded even further to participate in the newly announced contraception service and the New Medicine Service (NMS).
With pharmacies and pharmacists in the UK suffering from intense workloads which have been exasperated by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the hope of the PSNC that expansion of the pharmacy technician role will be one step in helping to alleviate the pressure on UK pharmacies. The PSNC writes that the changes to the role are, “critical in starting to address the very severe capacity constraints that the sector is facing”.
For further information, please refer to the articles linked below:
‘Pivotal moment’: Pharmacy technicians set to deliver more clinical services
What does a pharmacy technician do?
Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 5-year deal: year 3 (2021 to 2022)