Technicians training in community pharmacy are more likely to feel isolated than their hospital colleagues, research has revealed.

Almost a fifth of trainee community pharmacy technicians felt isolated in their place of work, compared to just over a tenth of those in hospitals, according to the authors of a report commissioned by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

Trainee hospital technicians were significantly more likely to feel well supported, have a good work-life balance and a “clear and well-defined role”, said the researchers from the University of Manchester on Thursday (February 26).

A survey of recently registered technicians, carried out between February 2013 and February 2014, also revealed that hospital technicians felt more competent to work in a different sector to the one they had trained in, the researchers said in a report on technician training.

Community pharmacy technicians suffered from “ambiguity” about their role and how it varied from that of a dispenser, because the differences between the two were “not well delineated”, the researchers said.

There was a “fundamental need” for all technicians to have a clear role, the researchers stressed.

Education and training standards for both hospital and community pharmacy technicians were “not necessarily relevant or up-to-date”, said the researchers, who called for training to be updated to reflect current practice.

The researchers conducted phone interviews with education providers, employers, awarding bodies and recently registered pharmacy technicians, and said the need to revise standards in line with current practice was a common theme in their conversations with all groups.

GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin said the report provided valuable information on the strengths and weaknesses of the regulator's current education and training standards for technicians. The role of technicians had continued to evolve, and the GPhC would ensure its standards reflected this, he added.

The GPhC stressed that it would review its training and education standards for pharmacy technicians "in the coming months".

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