The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) yesterday (July 17) discussed proposals to improve the education and training of pharmacy technicians by “strengthening areas including sustainability and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)”.
“Key changes proposed to the initial education and training of pharmacy technicians (IETPT) standards...include moving the level of study” from level 3 to level 4, council meeting papers revealed.
The proposed new standards will also encourage “greater multi-sector training” and will include “requirements around use of technologies to reflect current and developing practice”, it added.
Read more: PDA: Pharmacy technician qualification levels ‘too low’ to handle PGDs
According to the GPhC, these “draft standards and learning outcomes have been developed” as part of a “planned consultation on revised standards”.
The regulator has created an informal “working group” to “review component parts of the draft consultation documentation” and once a “finalised consultation document” is agreed on, it will be shared with council members, it said.
The council will then have to “approve the consultation document for publication”, which is planned for September, it added.
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The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) raised “safety” concerns with MPs last March about allowing pharmacy technicians to supply medicines under patient group directions (PGDs).
It argued at the time that technicians “only have a basic level 3 qualification”, which is less than the “minimum” level 5 national vocational qualifications (NVQs) held by other healthcare professionals that use PGDs.
Pharmacy technicians’ “underpinning knowledge” is “just too low” to safely use PGDs, it added.
