Pharmacists reject calls for technicians to work under PGDs
People Pharmacists have rejected calls for pharmacy technicians to be able to supply medicines without a prescription under PGDs, claiming it could have a detrimental impact on patient safety.
Pharmacists have rejected calls for pharmacy technicians to be able to supply medicines without a prescription under patient group directions (PGDs), claiming it could have a detrimental impact on patient safety.
In a poll of nearly 1,300 pharmacists run by the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA), 96 per cent of pharmacists said they were not in favour of adding technicians to the list of healthcare professionals who can supply medicines under a PGD,
Only 4 per cent of respondents were unreservedly in favour of adding pharmacy technicians to the list, according to the survey. Three quarters of these were senior hospital pharmacists, the PDA revealed last month.
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More on PGDs
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Independents to deliver flu jabs under Northern Ireland's first PGDThe Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists (GHP) used its response to draft Nice guidance on PGDs to call for pharmacy technicians to be added to the list. The PDA ran the poll to see how many pharmacists agreed with this view, PDA chairman Mark Koziol told C+D in June.
Almost 60 per cent of the community pharmacists that responded cited technicians' lack of an appropriate professional relationship or accountability as the reason why they should not be added.
The PDA said the issue had generated some "emotive debate" and the survey results had put "a big question mark" over the GHP's proposal.
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The issue sparked a debate among C+D readers last month. Pharmacy technician Leon D'Montigny said he supported technicians working under PGDs and suggested "an extra level of paperwork for the technician to complete to ensure competency". Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK president Steve Acres called for a "solid risk analysis" before a decision was made. Last week (August 2), Nice renewed its call for an end to "unnecessary and inappropriate" PGDs in its final version of the guidance. Lack of funding had led to the overuse of PGDs in place of independent prescribing, but PGDs should be used in "limited situations" that offered "an advantage for patient care", Nice said. It recommended that antibiotic PGDs should only be used in "exceptional circumstances" when they are clinically essential and do not jeopardise strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance. But it acknowledged that the directives could be appropriate for patients seeking urgent or unscheduled care, including in community pharmacies. Read the full Nice guidance and C+D's guide to making the most of PGDs. |
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Most popular reasons for not adding pharmacy technicians:1 A lack of training rendering the service ineffective 2 Reduced pharmacist presence leading to deskilling of the service and poorer patient outcomes 3 Blurring of roles and causing confusion amongst patients 4 Lack of appropriate professional relationships and accountability 5 Lack of underpinning knowledge resulting in a detrimental impact upon patient safety Most popular reasons for adding pharmacy technicians:1 It would improve safety for patients 2 It would help to clarify the role of a pharmacy technician 3 The current level of qualification of a pharmacy technician is more than adequate to deliver PGDs safely and effectively 4 Pharmacy technicians can enjoy the appropriate professional relationships and accountability 5 It would help pharmacists by reducing their workload Source: PDA survey, June 2013, 1,300 respondents |
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Do you think pharmacy technicians should be able to supply medicines under PGDs? Comment below or email us at [email protected] You can also find C+D on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook |
