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The president of the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK) Amy Laflin dismissed suggestions that some of her members may not want to shoulder greater responsibility and regulatory burden given their modest salaries when legislation which will expand their roles comes into force next month.

Laflin (pictured) told Independent Community Pharmacist during the Royal College of Pharmacy’s conference in London on Friday that pharmacy technicians’ salaries should not be used as yardstick to decide if they ought to take on greater responsibilities and insisted it was about developing their skills and allowing them to support pharmacists effectively.

Pharmacy technicians’ average annual salaries range from £28,000 for a starter to £39,000 for experienced pharmacy technicians according to the Government.

Next month, legislation under the Human Medicines Regulation 2012 comes into force allowing pharmacists to authorise pharmacy technicians to undertake or supervise the preparation, assembly, dispensing and sale and supply of medicines that would otherwise need to be performed by or under the supervision of a pharmacist.

In January this year, legislation was introduced allowing pharmacists to authorise pharmacy teams including pharmacy technicians to hand out checked and bagged prescriptions.

When asked why a pharmacy technician earning that would want to take on the pressure of undertaking or supervising the preparation, assembly, dispensing and sale and supply of medicines, Laflin said: “I’m going to flip that by saying why would pharmacists take on an independent prescriber for no additional salary because it is essentially exactly the same principle?

“From a pharmacy technician side, it’s about personal growth, it’s about being able to work within our scope of practise and our scope of authority. It’s really important that the legislation changes allow pharmacy technicians to work at a more autonomous level than they already are as a registered professional in their own right.

“It shouldn’t be looked at in the sense of ‘here’s a salary for the pharmacy technician, therefore we must only abide by these particular roles and responsibilities of our job role'. It’s around where pharmacy technicians can grow into roles so pharmacists are utilising their skills further, so we’re able to support that kind of teamworking from a multidisciplinary perspective.”

It shouldn’t come down to a salary bracket

Insisting pharmacy technicians are “registered professionals” who “have the ability to support” pharmacies, Laflin added: “It all comes down to skills within the workforce, making sure we have the right person for the right task at the right time and patient safety. It shouldn’t come down to a salary bracket. It should be what people feel confident to do within their working role.”

In July, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) increased the minimum level of study for pharmacy technicians from level 3 to level 4 as part of its initial education and training standards. A level 3 pharmacy technician, often training through a level 3 diploma or apprenticeship, works under the supervision of a pharmacist to prepare, manage, and supply medicines.

Under the new regulatory standards, trainee pharmacy technicians need to demonstrate competence in final accuracy checking before registration. The standards also introduced a minimum level 2 science qualification or equivalent as an entry requirement.

The GPhC chief executive Kathie Cashell, who was also at the conference, said the new legislation “does up the stakes” for pharmacy technicians but insisted the regulator’s role was “not just to take regulatory action when things go wrong but empower the profession”.

“The decision we have taken it is to look at the standards for the initial education and training of pharmacy technicians and to increase that to a level to reflect the experience that people may now need at the point of registration,” Cashell said.

“The regulator has got a role to make sure people are empowered and have the skills and experience that they need. It wasn’t a universally popular decision and we’re going to make sure the implementation of that is managed over the next few years, so not before 2029.”

In response, Laflin said: “We just need to be mindful of how that picture comes across because pharmacy technicians can currently do that role and that description around supervision and the PGDs (patient group directions) and all that additional work at our current practise, which is level three in most instances.

“So, the level four will broaden and give us additional pieces within our scope of practise and our knowledge base. Right now, we are able to carry out those same job roles and descriptions.”

Cashell said the GPhC’s new standards would ensure pharmacy technicians have the necessary skills “at the point of registration, similarly in the way we do independent prescribing”.

She added: “That is not in any way saying ‘level three trained experienced pharmacy technicians are not ready now in December’. This is about making sure we continue that professional development and journey as people come out of the initial training, ready to go.”