Keri Jones-Macdonald didn’t expect to have a career in pharmacy. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school and I was never any good at science,” she recalls.

But Ms Jones-Macdonald’s decision to take a job as a sales assistant at Superdrug at the age of 16 has led to a career as an accuracy checking technician (ACT) for the chain in Newport, South Wales.

Her expertise and passion for the role has earned her a reputation as "The Oracle” – a go-to person for advice both at her own store and neighbouring Superdrug branches – and, most recently, winning the C+D Pharmacy Technician of the Year award in 2015. 

Ms Jones-Macdonald’s career has involved several different roles – from sales assistant to becoming a store supervisor, and then an assistant manager, which included medicines counter assistant training.  Superdrug also paid for her to take a dispensing assistant course, a dispenser course, and supported her during her two-year training to qualify as an ACT.

Why be an ACT?

As an ACT working in a busy pharmacy, Ms Jones-Macdonald feels the role makes the most of her training. She enjoys supporting pharmacists, because this “releases them to offer services such as MURs, while I take prescriptions and do other clinical checks”, she says.

She also likes working with the general public – “I’m a people person,” she says – and appreciates the problem-solving aspects of being an ACT, such as querying scrips and talking to doctors about patients. The vast knowledge base demanded by her role means she is constantly learning.

Being an ACT gives her the opportunity to improve patient care. “I love how this role can make a real difference to people’s lives,” she says. This can involve anything from contacting a doctor if she has concerns about a patient’s high blood pressure to dealing with a manufacturer to sort out problems with an asthma patient’s nebuliser.  

Use your initiative

To be a successful ACT, Ms Jones-Macdonald believes, “it is important to use your initiative”.

“You need to be able to think on your feet, and to support the pharmacist you need to go above and beyond what would be expected of you. For example, if the pharmacist is on their lunch and there’s a problem with a script, you should automatically contact the relevant person, such as the GP, to sort out the issue,” she says.

Using your initiative may also mean troubleshooting when other pharmacies within your chain need assistance. “Sometimes I’ve visited other branches when they need help or are short-staffed, which has included visiting nursing homes to ensure people get their medication,” she says.

Keep up to date with pharmacy training

ACTs need to keep up to date with their training in order to support pharmacists to the best of their ability, Ms Jones-Macdonald stresses. To get the most out of training, “it is important to do courses that you are interested in”, she advises.

Her CPD record boasts more than 12 comprehensive pieces of work undertaken as a reaction to the needs of patients. This work, completed in her own time, includes HIV Pharmacy Association training to support the HIV dispensing service at Newport, and also a 10-week course on substance misuse to improve the service that the pharmacy offers to more than 40 clients. 

Never stop learning

During her 13 years working in pharmacy, Ms Jones-Macdonald has gained a substantial amount of knowledge about healthcare and she is learning continually.  She makes the most of that knowledge and experience – such as preventing adverse reactions by identifying when a patient should not be taking a particular medication.

By building on her knowledge she is able to give patients health checks, such as offering advice about their diet, discussing the value of exercising and suggesting ways to stop smoking.  “Pharmacists don’t have enough working hours in the day, so being able to do health checks relieves them from some of their work pressures,” she says. 

Looking to the future

The role of pharmacy technicians is “constantly developing”, Ms Jones-Macdonald says. “Pharmacy technicians have the opportunity to specialise in different areas of healthcare, such as advising patients about the importance of a healthy lifestyle,” she says.

However, the opportunities for ACTs to develop their careers are dependent on pharmacists giving them the time to do more training. And while ACTs play a key role in supporting pharmacy, pharmacists need to support them too. As Ms Jones-Macdonald says: “If pharmacists don’t give us the time to do training, we won’t be able to develop our knowledge.”

What is your highlight of working as a pharmacy technician?

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