The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and NHS England (NHSE) have appointed Olivia Musson as their “new national pharmacy technician fellow”, the regulator this week (April 28) announced.
It added that the fellowship, which is the second national pharmacy technician fellowship in England, is the first to be “jointly co-hosted” by the two bodies.
The one-year fixed-term fellowship will see Musson “work across the office of the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer (CPhO)…and the GPhC”, it said.
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GPhC chief pharmacy officer Roz Gittins added that Musson will contribute to the GPhC’s “work to support and empower the pharmacy technician profession”.
This will include the GPhC’s new standards for the initial education and training of pharmacy technicians, she said.
“Incredibly excited”
Since qualifying and registering in 2014, Musson has worked “in various secondary care roles including NHS, private and commissioning”, the GPhC said.
She currently works as a service improvement manager at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, where she implements projects “across the pharmacy department”, it added.
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She “also sits on the pharmacy leadership team where she is responsible for leading the dispensary and medicine management technicians (MMT) services across both hospital sites”, the GPhC said.
Musson said that she is “incredibly excited and honoured to be given this amazing opportunity to showcase and advocate for the pharmacy technician profession”.
“Our role is more important than ever and I look forward to being part of developing this,” she added.
“A crucial role”
Senior professional advisor in pharmacy technician practice at the CPhO office Liz Fidler said that Musson “will play a crucial role in enabling pharmacy technician professional practice to develop further”.
“The whole team in the office of the CPhO for England look forward to working with Musson and the opportunities that this collaborative opportunity will provide,” she added.
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“We were very impressed with the high calibre of the candidates for this fellowship, but [she] really stood out in terms of her knowledge, experience, skills and attitude,” Gittins said.
“We look forward to working closely with Musson at the GPhC and we are confident she will make a real contribution to our work,” she added.
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The GPhC announced the “unique” new fellowship in January, saying it was looking for “applications from experienced pharmacy technicians from any healthcare sector” who are “ready to work in a new way”.
A similar programme was announced by NHSE CPhO David Webb in October 2023, after appointing Fidler as the first-ever pharmacy technician to his team in 2021.
