A first-of-its-kind advanced practice framework, developed by Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), has been launched to assist pharmacy technicians develop their career pathways.
The framework sets out standards for the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to reach advanced levels of practice and is being piloted currently by 17 pharmacy technicians from across England, Scotland and Wales.
Mapping their practice against these standards should allow pharmacy technicians to identify any potential skill gaps and where to best focus on to progress professionally.
Those pharmacy technicians partaking in the pilot will be mentored to develop a portfolio evidencing their advanced level of practice which can then be used when applying for a promotion, a career change, at interviews and to support secondment applications.
Pharmacy technicians from across the UK and in all sectors (including community, hospital, prison and primary care) were involved in the design of the framework, along with input from educational providers, professional leadership bodies and the General Pharmaceutical Council.
In covering such a wide range of sources for input, HEIW have created a broad and inclusive framework which can be used by pharmacy technicians in all sectors and which aims to reconcile the differences in practice and opportunity between England, Scotland and Wales.
Margaret Allan, HEIW Pharmacy Dean, said: “I am delighted that this extremely valuable pilot of the advanced practice framework, which has been developed and led by HEIW, has been launched.
“The development of our pharmacy technician workforce is critical to Wales’ ambitious agenda laid out in Pharmacy: Delivering a Healthier Wales. As pharmacy dean, I am committed to supporting the whole pharmacy workforce across healthcare settings in Wales to have the skills, confidence and competence to provide enhanced patient services at every point of contact.”
