The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) plans to increase the level of study for pharmacy technicians from level 3 to “at least” level 4, a new consultation launched by the regulator yesterday (October 1) revealed.
This is “around the same level as the first year of an undergraduate university degree” and will “equip trainees with new skills in critical thinking and clinical decision making, and adaptability to different and complex healthcare environments”, it said.
It also announced plans to “mandate a science subject entry requirement” of at least level 2 or equivalent to “increase the basic knowledge expected of applicants”, which could include “previous practice-based learning”.
Read more: GPhC proposes ‘strengthening’ pharmacy tech qualifications
The GPhC said its proposed new standards will not make multi-sector training compulsory but will “strongly encourage” it “if the logistics can allow for it”.
This could include community pharmacy, hospitals and primary care networks (PCNs), as well as “newer areas such as digital pharmacies”, it added.
Training in multiple sectors is “quite new in pharmacy and is only being applied at local levels” so “now is not the right time to make it compulsory”, the regulator explained.
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The draft standards also propose making all pharmacy technicians “final accuracy” checkers upon registration, by replacing “accuracy checking” with “final accuracy checking” as a required competency for their initial education and training.
The proposals are set out in the GPhC’s consultation on standards for the initial education and training of pharmacy technicians (IETPT), which opened yesterday and closes on December 24.
“Growing demands”
The regulator’s other proposals are:
- A new standard on supervision that requires “formal learning agreements” between educational supervisors, education providers, employers and trainees
- That the supervised work-based experience for trainees remains 14 hours a week, with trainees able to “work the equivalent” over “a longer time period” for flexibility
- Introducing learning outcomes on “keeping abreast of new technologies and using digital technologies to improve clinical outcomes”
- Building sustainability competencies into the IETPT standards
- Building the “basic concepts” of genomics into educational reforms
- Equipping trainees with a wide range of competencies to “meet the growing demands on pharmacy technician practice”
Read more: PDA: Pharmacy technician qualification levels ‘too low’ to handle PGDs
The GPhC said that the role of pharmacy technicians is “evolving to emphasise community care and prevention” and “extending further beyond traditional dispensing duties”.
“These draft IETPT standards aim to reflect these changes”, such as to supervision and the use of patient group directions (PGDs), it added.
Read more: The steady evolution of pharmacy technicians into the future
It comes after the GPhC discussed proposals to improve the education and training of pharmacy technicians by “strengthening areas including sustainability and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)” in July.
Council meeting papers revealed at the time that “key changes” proposed to the standards included raising the level of study, encouraging “greater multi-sector training” and including “requirements around use of technologies to reflect current and developing practice”.
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The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) raised “safety” concerns with MPs last March about allowing pharmacy technicians to supply medicines under 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.
