Pharmacy technician registrations beat GPhC estimates

Some 3,500 more pharmacy technicians than expected have applied to join the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) register, the regulator revealed last week.

The GPhC has received more than 20,500 applications and, at the end of last week (December 16), the number of registered technicians stood at 19,620.

Most of the outstanding applications require supporting documentation or further information.

Diane Meech, from the GPhC's registration department, said the error rate on applications received since July 1 has been between 40 and 50 per cent, and she urged applicants to spend time getting their applications and documentation together properly.

The GPhC reported in September that it had brought in extra staff to help process technician applications after it received more applications for compulsory registration than it had anticipated.

Registration became mandatory for technicians on July 1. Technicians who applied before the June 30 deadline can continue to work while their application is processed.

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D S, Community pharmacist
Posted on 20 December 2011.
Imagine, if the error percentage is 40-50 for filling in the forms for their own registration, then what would be the error rate when they start practising as ACT's and who will be responsible for those errors ??? Just by boosting the number of Technicians being registered, the GPhC should concentrate on defining their responsibilities and whether they will also be tried "criminally" for dispensing errors.

In my view it is just a plain equation, GPhC makes money in fees from registering these technicians and the Pharmacists pays out for the errors done by them.

Pathetic emoticon
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Gerry Diamond, Other pharmacist
Posted on 20/12/11 23:37 in reply to D S.
Pharmacy technicians have been registering in other countries for many years e.g. USA and Canada. Clearly the next phase is to set out clear boundaries which to some extent exist already and move together in the interest of the pharmacy profession.

Nothing stays the same for ever and freeing up pharmacist to spend more time with patients is the way ahead. And some liability for dispensing should go with the role of the technician too.

Once a clinical check has been cleared the dispensing and assembling can be easily delegated to technicians if the responsible pharmacist is confident to do so.
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Pamela Smyth, Community pharmacist
Posted on 21/12/11 13:24 in reply to Gerry Diamond.
Its hard to be confident, when you're the one who could lose your job through someone elses mistake! Thats a lot of trust to put in somebody working as an ACT.
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D S, Community pharmacist
Posted on 21/12/11 13:28 in reply to Gerry Diamond.
Hi Gerry,

Most of what you say -- "Once a clinical check has been cleared the dispensing and assembling can be easily delegated to technicians if the responsible pharmacist is confident to do so" -- is already happening. What is the difference between a dispensing technician and a Pharmacy Technician ??? And why have GPhC started registering them without a clarity on which role do they fit in a community pharmacy without having any liability ???
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Brian Smith, Pharmacy technician
Posted on 18/01/12 16:23 in reply to D S.
I believe some of the Technicians registered will be ACT's but this article is discussing Pharmacy Technicians. If you don't feel confident in the abilities of the staff around you, then I suggest you have employed the wrong people. Lets not turn this into another excuse for Technician bashing!!! Some of you really don't need another excuse!!!!
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