PHARMACY TECHNICIAN JOURNAL...membership will be timed as a rolling year. We believe this will benefit members, as they can decide the start date for their DD and the first membership

PHARMACY TECHNICIANJOURNAL

THE JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION OF PHARMACY TECHNICIANS UK

WINTER 2014

Inside:New Opportunity in the Emergency Services

for Pharmacy TechnicianAn Apprentices Journey Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

and the Changing Environment

Conferencebookingsopen now

OCIATION

FOUNDED1952

U.K.

PH

AR

MA

CY

T E C HNICIA

NS

Association of PharmacyTechnicians UK (APTUK)

DELEGATE INFORMATION

13-14 JuneASTON UNIVERSITY, BIRMINGHAM

PATIENT CENTREDCARE Empowering patients to get the most from pharmacy services

AP

TU

K A

NN

UA

L P

RO

FES

SIO

NA

L

CO

NFE

REN

CE

& E

XH

IBIT

ION

20

15

NI

chTcia ion of Ph

NA

LL 5N 2

arTUK

ESSS

IOT

BIE

XPR

AL

PR

OF

Die

t fe

AN

NU

AL

PA N

CO

NA

CU EK

AA E

h

oom

earmacys

pha macy s

3,3

e

13 14 June

eervicees C

NNOFE

EGGA

s

VUNAS N

EG

ON

PAC

s

we m

ninn

P

n

ATNA

gos

hnhn haha

NNE ITFE IT

AACC

NN, Y,

sese

Principal corporate partner

PTJ_Winter 2014/15.qxp:PTJ_Autumn 2011 23/12/2014 15:29 Page 1

Special Products Limited is dedicated to the delivery of quality,

service and innovation. To �nd out why our customers value our

unlicensed medicines, visit:www.specialproducts.biz

or call us on:+44(0) 1932 690325

UK batch manufacture

Quality tested

Certificates of analysis

Product data sheets

Shelf life development programme

Medical information


Issue 1 | Pharmacy Technician Journal | 3

T here is such an abundance of fantastic innovativework going on across the country by pharmacytechnicians and the New Year will bring further

opportunities for development in untested waters, lets allseize the day , our president Tess Fenn shares her views onmodernising APTUK and Pippa Meakins (page 8) shares herexciting new role with the ambulance service.We asked you our readers to tell us what you thought of

the PTJ, whilst the general consensus was it is a keymembership benefit, you find it a valuable resource, thequantity and quality are good (83% rated good to excellenteven asking for more) the big question of print versuselectronic was not such a clear cut outcome! A similarrecent survey for the PJ resulted in 70% of members infavour of reducing to a monthly print copy and weeklyonline journals and a better website. We will continue to review the PTJ development and in

consultation with you our members and the APTUK boardof directors. The Five Year Foward View a vision of how the NHS will

look over the next few years merely provides the roadmapis calling on pharmacists to form large-scale primary carepractices with GPs, and acts as to encourage the twoprofessions to collaborate together. By many it is seen as avisionary document which only mentions pharmacy fourtimes. The Five Year Forward View was not intended to focus on

a particular profession and claims to have "very much"taken into account pharmacy's responses to its Call toAction consultation, of which there were more than 800.As a country we have begun to accept that people live

longer and are becoming ill [with] long-term conditions, weneed a much more integrated approach and we are alreadyseeing early signs of action with news that the NHS willoffer GP’s incentives that bring pharmacists into theirpractices. The document paints a picture of what a future health

and social care system may look like, with many differentfuture models of care.In our next issue Alison Hemsworth will share what this

might mean for pharmacy technicians.The Now More Than Ever report was commissioned by

the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) to look at whetherthe recommendations for an expanded care-giving role forpharmacists, set out in the RPS’s Now or Never report in2013, had been acted upon a year later. The report's authorsconcluded that, while pharmacists had managed topersuade some local commissioners to fund innovativeservices, progress across England remained “patchy andlacking in scale”.In its report, the Nuffield Trust said that, despite a

growing role for pharmacists in emergency care and withingeneral practices, community pharmacy in particular

needed "significant change". The pharmacy contractshould shift its focus away from medicines dispensing andtowards making "care-givers" to send out a "powerfulsignal" to the sector that the model of care had to change,the report's authors said.The “complex” commissioning arrangements that

pharmacy had to operate under appeared to “support thestatus quo and inhibit innovation”, the authors said. Theycited divisions between the national pharmacyrepresentative groups as preventing the sector from makinga "coherent case" to the wider health service. If pharmacy leaders did not put themselves at the centre

of local and national healthcare planning, the sector riskedbeing “overtaken by the inevitable expansion oftechnology-driven dispensing and supply”, the authorsstressed. NHS policy-makers also needed to show they“meant business” and provide national funding thatenabled pharmacists to become care-givers, the think tanksaid.Judith Smith, Nuffield Trust director of policy and the

report’s lead author, said there had been an “increasedunderstanding that pharmacy has a lot to offer an NHS onan urgent hunt for savings”.“But we are still not on course for [pharmacy] to become

a care-giving profession in the way [it] should. In mostareas, there just hasn’t been a change patients wouldnotice,” she added.In its Now or Never report, the RPS pointed to the

government’s Better Care Fund (BCF), a £3.8 billion sum setaside to make health and social care more integrated, as anopportunity for pharmacy to realise its potential for helpingreduce medicines-related hospital admissions andpharmaceutical errors in care homes. But the Nuffield Trustsaid many local BCF plans still contained “relatively littlenew roles” for pharmacy in residential and domiciliary care.However, it noted that pharmacy did have a “significant

role” in some of the BCF plans that had been “fast-tracked”by the Department of Health because they were consideredto be the most advanced.

New year, new opportunities


4 | Pharmacy Technician Journal | Winter 2014/15

The report’s authors also found evidence that the sectorwas now seen as “part of the solution” to the winterpressures on hospitals and A&E services. While they couldnot identify a “clear trend” of newspapers publishing morediscussions about pharmacy, there was an “encouraging”rise in the number of references to the sector inparliamentary debates, they added.

Your chance to help patients understand how they couldbe affected by changes to the law on drug driving next year.

The new legislation, which is due to come into force inMarch, will make it an offence to drive over a specifiedlimit for 16 drugs, including nine prescription medicinessuch as diazepam and temazepam. Pharmacies shoulddisplay posters and leaflets in-store from February onwardsto explain what the new law would mean for patients andbrief their teams on the changes, the Department ofTransport (DoT) said on Thursday (December 11).

Patients who take their medication as instructed shouldnot be affected by the legislation, the DoT said, as the limitfor the nine prescription drugs on the list would take intoaccount the recommended dosage most patients would be

prescribed. Unlike existing legislation, the new lawwould mean patients who had been instructed by a medicalprofessional to take a particularly high dose of aprescription drug and were still able to drive safelywould have a medical defence against prosecution, it said.The changes in legislation had been finalised aftera consultation with pharmacy bodies last year, and transportminister Robert Goodwill said the government had “takenevery care” to ensure patients who used their medication asinstructed and were fit to drive would not be affected.“However, there are changes and people need to be awareof them,” he said.Mr Goodwill stressed that drug driving was a "menace”

and the new legislation would give police powers to “crackdown on those dangerous few” who drove under theinfluence of illegal drugs.

Campaign materials will be available to order from nextmonth, along with a partner pack containing furtherinformation about the new law. If you are interested insupporting the campaign should email the DoT [email protected].

Finally to end the year on a happy note Congratulations to Ellen my co-editor on the birth of herdaughter Amelia and her new post as events officerMerry Christmas and Happy New year

Rachael LemonEditorAssociation of Pharmacy Technicians UK

Come along learn more about COPD and Asthma including different inhalers and their indications and correct inhalertechnique.

There will also be the opportunity to:• Learn more about APTUK - the professional leadership body for pharmacy technicians • Network with pharmacy technicians from various sectors of pharmacy• Gain CPD support from your local APTUK CPD facilitator

The evening is free of charge and open to all Pharmacy Technicians, Pre-Registration Pharmacy Technicians, PharmacyAssistants & Dispensers

For more information or to confirm your attendance please contact either Anna Hazelden (Branch Chair) or KatherineWatkinson (Branch Secretary) [email protected]

APTUK Swindon Branch MeetingWhen? Wednesday 4th February 2015 at 7pm

Where? Holiday Inn, Coate Water, Swindon, SN3 6AQ


Winter 2014/15 | Pharmacy Technician Journal | 5

Dear Members

As I’m into my 2nd quarter as President now, I thoughtyou will want to know what’s been happening. In myfirst column, I indicated that we would be working

towards modernising our systems. Well, I’m delighted tosay we have made some huge leaps forward and our DirectDebit (DD) is now up and running and is ‘live’ for membersto join on line, through the website. If you haven’t seen it,please take a look and let everyone know about it. It’s aneasy process to follow and for the first time newmembership will be timed as a rolling year. We believe thiswill benefit members, as they can decide the start date fortheir DD and the first membership fee will cover the wholeyear. So there is no need to wait until the new financial yearto join APTUK now or to try and find your cheque book. Soplease go and tell your colleagues, as driving upmembership remains one of our key priorities. For ourexisting members you can also now pay by DD by hittingthe JOIN US button the website and following the link forrenewals. Again it’s an easy process but this time you willneed your APTUK membership number. We have alsomade the process easier for Pre-registration TraineePharmacy Technician’s (PTPT) to join. There is now an on-line form, again accessed by clicking the JOIN US button.New PTPTs will need to provide their employers emailaddress so that this can be validated and then that is it. Thisis a major improvement for our processes and we hope thiswill encourage new membership. Early indications are it isalready having an impact.The world of pharmacy continues to have high media

coverage. I’m sure you have all heard and seen calls forpatients and the public to use their community pharmacy asthe first port of call, to try and alleviate pressures that arefacing our hospital accident and emergency departments.To engage with the professions to support ‘out of hours’services an ‘Urgent and Emergency Care Review DeliveryGroup’ has been meeting. I’m delighted to say that APTUKhave been asked to attend to inform how pharmacytechnicians can support this agenda and different ways ofworking. I attended our first meeting in September and thesecond is in December. To this end I would be delighted toknow of any pharmacy technicians working in A&Es andwhat part pharmacy technicians in community pharmaciescould play. Please do email me as your thoughts,experiences and knowledge are invaluable and could helptremendously.In my first column, I also mentioned the Rebalancing

Pharmacy Legislation and Regulation Programme and howthis is looking at what the current Medicines Act andHuman Medicines Regulations calls ‘Supervision’. Ourprevious president sat on the rebalancing programme

board and I am taking over this place from November. Thisis exciting and has the potential to look at the pharmacytechnician role within the pharmacy team. So again I will beasking for your thoughts and opinions, particularly whenthe rebalancing consultation is released. I would dearly loveto hear how pharmacy technicians are already pushing theboundaries in both community and hospital pharmacy. Soagain please do email me as I need your help.This leads very nicely into the GPhC’s project of looking

at registrants CPD, as keeping up to date is the key forpharmacy technicians to achieve all of what I havementioned so far. So how is this changing? CPD is evolvinginto the ‘Continuing Fitness to Practise’ framework that willhave three components. The three components, of whichCPD is one, will look at both the registrant’s competenceand professionalism. If you would like to find out moreabout this and the details please look at the GPhC website:http://www.pharmacyregulation.org/registration/continuing-fitness-practiseThe GPhC is now starting to ask for pharmacy’s thoughts

on how this will work in practise and have set up anAdvisory Group. I’m delighted to say that we have beenasked to sit on the group and I will be representing APTUK.Liz Fidler, our Education Strategy Officer, is also on thegroup, representing pharmacy technicians from her day jobperspective. We have also been asked to nominate apharmacy technician student/trainee and are currently inthe process of doing this. So watch this space.Since the launch of the Foundation Pharmacy Framework

(FPF) at conference, the Education team have been workingtowards rolling out its use in practise and training. Tosupport this APTUK are training FPF ‘champions’ at theBranch Day on 22nd November 2014. Our FPF championswill work through our branches and the website to help ournewly qualified members on their professional journey. Soagain watch this space and please spread the message.As you can see, pharmacy is moving at a pace, and APTUK

are there at the table with your interests, and those of theprofession, upmost in our priorities. Since conference wehave had a tremendous amount of interest in opening newlocal branches, so I urge you all to support your localbranch. You can see where your local branch is on thewebsite UK map. Please do help us to gain momentum fortwo way communication, so we can be responsive to yourneeds as members of your professional leadership body.

Tess Fenn BA Hons MIfL MAPharmTAPTUK President

Modernisation



Defining unlicensed medicines known as ‘specials’The term ‘specials’ has been adopted in the UK as anabbreviated form of ‘patient with special needs’, and

refers to a medicine used in a patient who cannot betreated or managed with a licensed medicine. A ‘special’ istherefore an unlicensed medicine supplied in response to apatient need otherwise unmet by a licensed pharmaceuticalmedicine. The preparation of a medicine for an individualpatient is not a new concept, with medicines commonlycompounded in pharmacy dispensaries well into the 20thcentury, with batch manufactured medicines supplied byindustrial companies becoming the predominant source ofprescription medicines by the middle of the century. Whatwould be recognised as the current ‘specials’ sectorprobably dates from around the mid-1990s, and can belinked to several key events and issues. This article willtouch on the events and influences that shaped the specialssector and, perhaps more usefully, offer a few suggestionson how procurement technicians can demand best serviceand value from their ‘specials’ providers. However, it might be useful to start with some definitions.

In recent years the descriptive term ‘specials’ has beenapplied liberally, and not always accurately, to several non-standard groups of healthcare products. Unlicensedmedicines prepared in a facility regulated and licensed bythe Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency(MHRA), and identifiable by the Specials Manufacturing(‘MS’) licence number shown on the product label andassociated documentation, are ‘specials’ and can beaccurately described as such. Medicines which areunlicensed in the UK and imported into the UK under theMHRA notification scheme are also accurately described as‘specials’, although this sub-group is obviously differentfrom parallel imports which are licensed by the MHRA andcarry a PL(PI) licence number. Medicines that areextemporaneously dispensed in a pharmacy are not, strictlyspeaking, ‘specials’, but pharmacists could consider this asan alternative supply route having taken into considerationthe quality and safety issues implicit within the hierarchy ofrisk. Similarly, ‘compassionate use’ unlicensed medicines –often referring to a situation where a patient has beenexposed to a medicine in a (since completed) clinical trial,but where the medicine is still in a pre-licensing phase - arenot ‘specials’. And finally, prescribed ‘special obtains’products such as hosiery and specialist dietary breads,which are not held as stock lines, are not specials.

LegislationThese different groups of unlicensed medicines derive fromand are covered by different pieces of legislation. MHRAregulated, UK manufactured ‘specials’ and imported‘specials’ are covered by The Human Medicines Regulations

2012, and summarised in a succinct and easy-to-read MHRAGuidance Note 14, reissued by the MHRA in May 2014.The extemporaneous dispensing of a medicine in a

pharmacy is referred to in Regulation 4 of The HumanMedicines Regulations 2012, but this refers back to theMedicines Act 1968 (section 10) which still appears to be theprimary legislation covering this activity. ‘Compassionateuse’ medicines appear to be covered by Europeanlegislation in the form of Article 83 of Regulation (EC)726/2004. Specialist foods, hosiery and other special obtainsproducts are covered by other legislation concerned withfoods and devices. The legislation side is all a littleconfusing, and perhaps contributes towards unlicensedmedicines being a somewhat vague and difficult to describesubject matter.

Evolution of the unlicensed medicines sectorThe preparation, manufacture and sourcing of unlicensedmedicines has evolved significantly over the last 15 years.One of the most significant influencing events occurred in1998 when an error in the extemporaneous preparation ofmedicine in a community pharmacy lead to the death of ayoung patient. The resulting court case was widelyreported in the professional and lay press and, in additionto the human tragedy, may well have drawn attention to theowners of community pharmacy businesses of the potentialcorporate liability of errors made by employees whenengaged in extemporaneous compounding. It wasprobably recognised that using a specialist manufacturingservice was more efficient in resource terms and, perhapsmore importantly from a corporate perspective, transferreda part of the liability away from the community pharmacybusiness. Corporate pharmacy businesses were, in effect,thinking about what they wanted their staff to be doing,and not doing, in their day-to-day jobs. Within the hospital sector difficult decisions were being

made about the allocation of limited financial and staffresources, with some hospitals choosing to support in-house aseptic compounding whilst out-sourcing the non-sterile preparation of unlicensed medicines. With the preparation of unlicensed medicines being

increasingly outsourced to specialist manufacturingoperations, the businesses of the existing players grewsignificantly in the early part of the 2000s. This in turnattracted new entrants, thereby increasing competition.Retrospective rebates linked to the purchase of specialswere not new, but the availability and awareness of rebatesincreased dramatically from around 2005. The specialsmarket was in a rare and privileged position in that therewas no price controls or guidance on how prices should beset. With escalating invoice prices and levels of rebatePrimary Care Trusts (PCTs), as they were then, started to see

‘Specials’ UnlicensedMedicines



substantial increases in their expenditure on specials, andPrescribing Analysis and Cost (PACT) data was giving veryprecise information on where the high costs were beingincurred. The Department of Health (DH) started toconsider means of bringing about some structure andcontrol to the pricing and this resulted in the publication ofsection VIIIB of the Drug Tariff in November 2011. Initially,this was a limited list of products with fixed reimbursementprices for pharmacy contractors, with associated obligationsfor claiming for products not specifically listed in the Tariff.Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) reports, publishedannually by the Health and Social Care Information Centre,and which reports on the cost of prescriptions dispensed inthe community in England, provides some evidence that theDrug Tariff has been successful in controlling and indeedreducing the cost of individual specials. However, what isnot clear is the level of success of the Drug Tariff sectionVIIIB in controlling the total cost of specials to the NHS.

Hierarchy of risk

The concept of sourcing medicines based on identifyingand procuring from the lowest category of risk (to thepatient) was published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Societyin 2010 as part of a ‘Dealing with specials’ publication. Thecategories are clear and the sequence in which they areplaced is logical. However, we think that there are gaps intwo areas of the hierarchy of risk, which give rise to thepossibility for it to be developed further at some point inthe future. The first potential gap is in the translation of thelabelling of an imported product into English, and theextent to which the English translation can or should bemodified to provide an accessible and meaningful form ofEnglish – we have found from experience that a literaltranslation into English from the original language can beclunky and difficult to read. Given that the Englishtranslation is not subject to an independent approvalprocess, there are several potential issues around thetranslation process in terms of a reasonable level ofmodification, responsibility, consistency, and approvalprocesses. In our opinion a second potential gap exists is in the

fourth category, ‘A UK manufactured special made in MHRAlicensed facilities’. As currently described, no distinction ismade between those ‘specials’ medicines which are made-to-order and those which are batch manufactured.Although made-to-order ‘specials’ are a vital and necessary

part of the specials sector, the post manufacture qualitytesting, stability studies and other supporting workundertaken on batch manufactured ‘specials’ could beconsidered to be an important means of reducing risk topatients. Moreover, batch manufactured ‘specials’ are morelikely to include a patient information leaflet, carton, and adosing device which can be useful to the end user. Weanticipate that there could be further development of thehierarchy of risk in due course.

Procurement of unlicensed medicinesAs touched on earlier, procurement technicians canconsider a number of potential providers for most ‘specials’medicines. This provides choice as well as the opportunityto procure within the framework of the hierarchy of risks,as well securing the optimum return in terms of the balancebetween level of service and financial expenditure. In ourexperience, some procurement technicians are moreconfident and active than others in approaching suppliersto investigate the options that are available to them.Consideration could be given to some of the following: • Batch manufactured medicines could be consideredinstead of made-to-order products. This is becausemedicines that are manufactured in batches have alower cost of goods than made-to-order products,which usually translates into lower selling prices.

• Another way a procurement technician could minimisecosts is to estimate the annual or monthly usage of themedicine and talk to their suppliers about thepossibility of receiving volume related discounts.

• Another element to consider when procuring a‘specials’ medicine, are storage conditions. A medicinethat has a storage condition, of let’s say, 2° to 8°C, thenthis has a cost associated with it in terms of shortershelf life and high delivery costs. Therefore, if viable,consider ‘specials’ that can be kept at ambienttemperature.

• An additional factor to look out for which may increasethe invoice amount is delivery charges. Delivery chargescan vary between suppliers. In addition, a number ofsmall orders will incur more delivery charges than asingle order. In some cases a supplier might beprepared to waive a delivery charge altogether fororders of multiple units of products.

• One final approach that a procurement techniciancould explore is ordering products for a consortium ofpharmacies or hospitals. Your pharmacy or hospital maynot be the only one requiring the product, so checkacross your chain of pharmacies or group of hospitals ifthey require the same product. If this is the case, it willenable the consortium to purchase multiple units,increase the chances for a discount and save on deliverycharges.

See if you can negotiate with your ‘specials’ provider usingthese approaches to achieve better value for yourorganisation and the NHS!

By Andrew Tittershill and Jasmit Singh



September 2014 created a brand new opportunity forPharmacy Technicians in the UK with theintroduction of the first technician into an

Ambulance Service. South East Coast Ambulance Service(SECAmb), is one of 17 Ambulance Trusts in the UKproviding care to Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Borders ofNorth Hampshire. The Trust has 70 Ambulance stations. Itcovers a geographical area of 3,600 square miles whichincludes densely populated urban areas, sparselypopulated rural areas and some of the busiest stretches ofmotorway in the country. Medication is required acrossthis area by the emergency service practitioners for theirlife preserving and lifesaving work.Changes in the law mean that it is no longer permitted

for ambulance trusts to procure medications from Acutehospitals unless the hospital has a license to supplymedication to an external healthcare provider and soSECAmb had to review its arrangements in obtaining andstoring medication whilst maintaining its essential serviceto the public.Paul Cloves - Medicines Management Lead, a registered

nurse with a history in emergency care was working on theproject working with assistance of Robert Lea the trustsconsultant pharmacist. The decision was made tointroduce a pharmacy technician, who could help lead onprocurement of medication, give advice on safe and securestorage, distribution and who could assist in audit ofmedication whileappreciating the obstacles ofworking in this unique pre-hospital setting.This need for change lead

to a re-launch of the entiremedicines managementsystem with an emphasis onsecurity and integrity ofmedication across the trust.This prompted theintroduction of Omnicellmachines and acomputerised system torecord movement and use ofmedication to allow the trustto track medication when instorage or in use.SECAmb successfully

recruited Pippa Meakins intothe new post, Pippa startedher career in pharmacy atthe age of 18 where shespent a year working as apharmacy assistantunpacking deliveries, signingin medication and topping

up ward supplies at a large Acute hospital.She went on to study Pharmaceutical Science at Bromley

Technical College for 2 years while continuing her hospitalworkAfter finishing college she worked for a further year in

the Acute hospital dispensary dispensing TTA’s and OPDscripts, making chemotherapy and TPN as well assupplying medication to Theatres and wards, and makingspecial items to request for dermatologists.In 2006 Pippa became a medicines management

technician, studying intermediate and advanced levelswith SEMMED, also completing her A1 assessorsqualification and began helping trainee technicians andpharmacy assistants to gain level 2 and 3 qualifications inPharmacy service. She worked on wards takingmedication histories for doctors and providing counsellingto patients on Warfarin, Inhaler techniques, and Epipens.In 2008 she left the Acute hospitals and joined the

prison service again in a medicines management rolehelping administer medication, provided a liaison betweenprison and pharmacy department, and discussedmedication with prisoners. Currently Pippa has already started making a huge

impact in SECAmb, rationalising medicines, providingtechnical advice to operational crews and the widermanagement team, as well as being a key figure in the rollout of Omnicell across the Trust.

New Opportunity in the EmergencyServices for Pharmacy Technician



IntroductionWednesday 17th September 2014 saw the 7th annual NorthWest Pre-Registration Trainee Pharmacy Technician of theYear Awards at the prestigious Manchester Museum ofScience & Industry (MOSI). The event, supported by HealthEducation North West, celebrated the successfulcompletion of training and registration of forty-eight newlyqualified Pharmacy Technicians. In addition to the newlyqualified cohort, representatives from North Westemployers, Further Education Colleges, Association ofPharmacy Technicians United Kingdom (APTUK) and Centrefor Pharmacy Post-Graduate Education (CPPE) were inattendance. The event was hosted by Alison Pritchard;North West Lead for Support Staff Education & Training,Health Education North West (HENW) and keynote speakerwas Tess Fenn, President of the Association of PharmacyTechnicians United Kingdom (APTUK).

BackgroundThe North West currently has five Further EducationColleges that train Pre-Registration Trainee PharmacyTechnicians (PTPTs). HENW has financially supported nearly700 trainees to date with a further 100 in training. All of theColleges work collaboratively with HENW to ensure that thehighest standards of education and training are maintainedacross the conurbation through the establishment of arobust communication network. Following theidentification of a need to motivate and reward qualifyingstudents, the North West Technical Support Group, whosupport training for Pharmacy Support Staff events,approved the initiative for the event in June 2007.

SpeakersAlison Pritchard, North West Lead for Pharmacy SupportStaff Training and Development, opened the event andwelcomed the first speaker, Jeannette Adrian, ChiefTechnician, Central Manchester Foundation Trust. Jeannettehas had an exceptional career to date. Qualifying later inher life as a Pharmacy Technician Jeanette has enjoyed awell-deserved meteoric rise to a position that not onlyoversees Pharmacy Staff but collaborates with otherprofessions to determine future service requirements. Theneed to look for opportunities and embrace them was a keymessage that Jeannette portrayed throughout herpresentation.

Tess Fenn, President APTUK. Tess outlined her extensivecareer to date and highlighted her how the career of aPharmacy Technician has so much to offer. Tess exhibitedher original British National Formulary to demonstrate howmuch Pharmacy has expanded during her professionaljourney. The value of APTUK as the representative body forPharmacy Technicians was emphasised and membershipencouraged by all that attended the event. The newlyqualified Pharmacy Technicians were congratulated on theirsuccess and told to enjoy their future careers, takingadvantage of every opportunity presented to them on theirway. Tess highlighted how motivating a PharmacyTechnician’s career can be in today’s challenging climate.

The Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE)Regional Tutor, Karen Morris, gave an overview of theplethora of resources that are on offer for PharmacyTechnicians. Karen, herself a Pharmacy Technician,explained how learning can be achieved via a variety ofdifferent methods including self-learning and group-learning as well as how to record Continuing ProfessionalDevelopment. Karen encouraged all the delegates toexplore and utilise CPPEs innovative methods and getinvolved in their work.

Prize CategoriesThrough nomination from Further Education Colleges andsupporting information from employers, the North WestTechnical Support Group determined the final prizewinners. It was noted that 2014 entries were of anexceptional standard and all nominees were congratulatedon raising expectations for future events.

North West Pre-Registration TraineePharmacy Technician of the YearAwards 2014

Alison PritchardNorth West Lead for PharmacySupport Staff Education & Training,HENW

Jeannette AdrianChief Technician, Central ManchesterFoundation Trust

Tess Fenn President APTUK

Karen MorrisCPPE Regional Tutor



Best Academic Achiever: Brett Finch, Liverpool Heart &Chest Hospital, City of Liverpool College

Brett achieved a full set of Distinction grades during his twoyear training period and his dedication and commitmentshone through in his nomination forms from both thecollege and his employer.

2014 saw the success of a previous year’s prize winnerbeing acknowledged outside of the Pharmacy arena. StaceyBarnes, a Pharmacy Technician at Salford Royal FoundationTrust, was awarded the 2014 North West Apprentice of theYear Award (Joint Winner). Stacey fought off fiercecompetition to secure this prestigious accolade and kindlyagreed to present the award for Best Personal Development& Achievement, an award that she herself won in 2012.Stacey showcased her work to date via a Poster exhibited atthe ceremony and is a great ambassador for the profession.

Best Personal Development & Achievement: KatharineDeMoraMieszowska, East Lancashire Teaching HospitalsNHS Trust, Preston’s College.

After overcoming many hurdles whilst studying for herqualification, Katherine’s hard work was rewarded with thiscoveted prize

Best Poster: Leila Taylor, Salford Royal Foundation Trust,Trafford College

Leila’s poster was an outstanding piece of work and showedhow reducing the amount of unwanted medicationreturned to Pharmacy and refining the returns processcould make cost savings in a safe manner.

SummaryThe North West Pre-Registration Trainee PharmacyTechnician Awards 2014 attracted the highest number ofdelegates to date and continues to demonstrate the successof the North West Pharmacy Workforce and itsstakeholders. Seventy-nine per cent of the newly qualifiedPharmacy Technicians have chosen to remain within theNorth West. They are wished well in their future careers.Many thanks go to all those involved in the management,organisation and delivery of the day. Special thanks toElaine Goldwater, Senior Administration Officer, and AlinaPiriiac, Administration Office, North West PharmacyWorkforce and the team at MOSI for their continuedsupport in ensuring the event’s success.

Alison PritchardNorth West Lead for Pharmacy Support Staff Training &Development, Health Education North West

Katharine DeMoraMieszowska receiving her prize from Stacey Barnes

Leila Taylor receiving her prize forBest Poster from Tess Fenn

Brett Finch, receiving the prizefor Best Academic Achiever fromTess Fenn

Event organisers (from left to right)Elaine Goldwater, Mike Haggerty (MOSI) Matthew Pemberton(MOSI), Alina Piriiac and Alison Pritchard

APTUK Gloucestershire – Competition 2015APTUK Gloucestershire are holdingtheir 2nd competition and this one isgoing to be HUGE!!

The Challenge:APTUK members from around the UKare invited to ask a non-member ofAPTUK (Qualified PharmacyTechnician) to become a member ofAPTUK through the new e-direct debitscheme.

In January 2015, APTUKGloucestershire will provide an entryform where you (the current members)will add your name to the form alongwith the name of the new member youhave invited to join. All entry formswill be placed in a hat, and one formwill be picked at random fotr theamazing prices on offer.So between now and the closing

date, invite your colleagues to become

members of APTUK and be in for achance to get your membership feespaid for along with Mr DispensersBook.More details available soon.

Competition opens 15/12/2014 whichmeans anyone joining from todayonwards can enter the competition.Competition closes 28/02/2015. Entryforms available in January 2015.Good luck.



Roksana Depta is a 21 year oldPharmacy Technician who qualified inJuly 2014. This is her journey:

Roksana is from a town in Polandcalled Bogatynia. At the age of14 Roksana came to the UK with

her mum and started High School inManchester. At the time of arriving in

Britain Roksana had no spoke or written English language.Roksana completed all her exams at school and stayed on

to complete a BTEC 3 in Animal Care. Just before her 18birthday Roksana’s mother had to return to Poland due to afamily reasons. Roksana made the decision to stay in the UKand live with her boyfriend in Manchester. Roksana had toleave school, give up any plans for University and get a jobin order to afford to do this. Roksana found a job in Castleford, Yorkshire working in an

Argos warehouse. She and her boyfriend moved toWakefield to live. This job didn’t last and Roksana foundherself out of work for 3 months and looking for a job. Shedidn’t want to work in a warehouse but wanted a job inhealthcare or science. She wanted a job that mattered andhelped people out. Roksana was applying for lots of jobs butnot getting them as she had no work experience. Anadvisor in Connections, Job Centre+, pointed Roksana inthe direction of apprenticeships and the NationalApprenticeship Website (http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk/)Roksana applied for an apprenticeship position in a small,

independent community pharmacy in Bierley, Bradford. Theworkplace consisted of a pharmacist, pre-reg pharmacistand Roksana. Roksana loved this job. She liked workingwith the small team and getting to know the patients.Roksana started on her Intermediate Apprenticeship in

Pharmacy (Level 2) and completed this with the support of aperipatetic assessor from the College provider. Roksana’sgood GCSE grades made her exempt from the functionalskills aspect of the apprenticeship. Roksana did completethe BTEC Level 2 in Pharmaceutical Science, EmployeesRights and Responsibilities, Personal Learning and ThinkingSkills and the NVQ Level 2 in Pharmacy Service Skills. Shethen progressed to the Advanced Apprenticeship (Level 3)and began training as a pre-registration trainee pharmacytechnician (PTPT). Roksana attended College on a day release basis once a

week. Her GCSE grades for maths (B) and English language(she obtained a C grade despite having only used Englishsince aged 14!) were sufficient, and recent enough, toexempt her from functional skills at Level 2. Roksana continued her work placement in the

community pharmacy in Bierley. In July 2014 Roksanacompleted her NVQ Level 3 in Pharmacy Service Skills,

Personal Learning and Thinking Skills, Employees Rightsand Responsibilities (for a PTPT) and obtained aDistinction:Distinction* grade in her BTEC Level 3 inPharmaceutical Science. This is the 2nd highest overallgrade you can obtain and is achieved through continuouslyachieving distinction grades in assignment work. When discussing the apprenticeship Roksana notes that

the low points are the wage. The apprenticeship wage is atraining wage and is really aimed at those living at homewith support of parents. This was not Roksana’s situationand although her employer did pay her more than theapprenticeship minimum wage (at their discretion) Roksanalived for 12 months on £4/hour and for the last 12 monthson £5-6/hour as the minimum wage for a 20 year old. As herboyfriend and herself were in work they were not eligiblefor any government benefits and so took out a bank loan tocover the cost of everyday living such as food and rent.Despite the issues with the wage Roksana would do the

apprenticeship route all over again. Without theapprenticeship being available Roksana doesn’t feel thatshe would have been given a chance to show what shecould do. The apprenticeship for her was a “foot in thedoor to being able to get a job without having experience”.Roksana would recommend the apprenticeship route,especially to young people with no experience. Roksana is delighted to be working in pharmacy and feels

it is a growing speciality becoming more important. In hertime working in the community pharmacy she has seen achange to the workload of the pharmacy with doctorsrelying and referring to pharmacies even more. Roksana has now left the community pharmacy and taken

up a position in a local NHS Trust. She did this as shewanted to work in a bigger team and learn new things. Shefeels there are job and training opportunities in the NHSand she wants to go on learning and developing herpharmacy skills. She is completing her registration as aPharmacy Technician with the GPhC. Good luck on your continued journey Roksana!

Gail HallTraining Manager – Vocational Science

An Apprentices’ Journey



Leading up to the Christmas period there are manythings to look forward to… Father Christmas leavinggifts, mince pies and repeats of Only Fools and

Horses!! Don’t you think it is interesting how humour overthe years has changed? When you watch the repeats of oldTV programmes they do date quite quickly. So you canappreciate that even comedians need to move with thetimes. If they merely repeated the same jokes, they wouldgo out of date and be very boring.This analogy can be applied to pharmacy professionals. If

you turn the clock back to the 1970’s communitypharmacies were mainly paid on a fee per piece of work;the prescription item fee. How times have changed sincethe ‘new’ pharmacy contract for community pharmacies wasintroduced in 2005. Fast forward to 2014 and looking at thePharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee’s website(PSNC) it is interesting to note that the contract has muchmore services included that attract remuneration for thepharmacy team. Looking back at the role of the pharmacytechnician, in the 1970s the role didn’t really exist and nowthis is a recognized and protected title from the GeneralPharmaceutical Council (GPhC). This therefore raises thedilemma that when you first qualified as a pharmacyprofessional, we are sure that you have seen many changesand the only thing that is certain is that everything changesand our ability to cope and manage change is increasinglyimportant. Our credibility as healthcare professionals,wherever we work, is subject to scrutiny and our audiencechanges so we need to adapt and change to suit the natureof our audience; patients, staff and colleagues.We are all aware that CPD is important not just as part of

our potentially future revalidation issues but to ourselves,our professional and our personal development too. Byactively engaging in CPD we can ensure that we are fit forpractice and fit for purposeIt we compare celebrities and how their careers have

evolved, Madonna has changed her style of music over theyears and we have seen the rise in home baking thanks toTV shows such as ‘Bake off’. The latter shows thatsometimes, we have to revisit and revive old skills that wereused many years ago to save money. How can we apply thislearning to our CPD? As we write this article the seasons are changing yet

again. Although, you may think that the summer neverhappened this year! The nights are getting darker and themornings colder so let us turn our minds to CPD. Do youalways remember to make an entry in your CPD recordeach month or do you stress when the letter from the GPhCarrives on your doormat?

Maybe you spent time this year adapting to the changesin the CPD environment and decided you might want torevisit your own thoughts and CPD entries to decide if you

have sufficient detail in those entries. Would you be happyto submit them as they are or are you a bit worried orscared?What about using the changing seasons of weather to

consider your CPD on how you managing change in theworking environment. Knowing that change is happeningcan be very stressful so how can you help yourself tomanage change seamlessly? Do you spend time reflectingon changes in your work environment and how can thesebe adapted to entries in your CPD record? If you sufferwith stress or anxiety when the word ‘change’ is mentioned,how do you manage these emotions? What about makingan entry in your record for this?Sometimes where emotional aspects are concerned, we

need to be able to ask for help and support so ‘who is therefor you?’ Well, put your thinking caps on because you mightbe surprised at who can help and support you. Your workcolleagues both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians areall in the same situation so why not form a little study groupat work and offer to help each other in the change process?Remember, you being proactive in offering help, setting upa study group and reviewing records could be made intothree CPD entries. Perhaps you are the sort of person wholikes to reflect? How about researching on how to managestress and anxiety and see how you can apply the learningto your situation? Again, this could be another potentialCPD entry. Finally, you may have a special person employedby your community pharmacy group or hospital called a“CPD facilitator”. Remember, their job is to FACILITATEyour CPD so use them!!!! So go on, as we enter the timefor considering New Year’s resolutions – perhaps you needto take a step back and consider the CPD environment thatyou are currently in and how you need to adapt.

Happy recording!Sue Jones and Nicola Arnold

By Sue C Jones (MRPharmS), Pharmacy lecturer and CPDFacilitator and Nicola Arnold (MAPharmT, BA (Hons), CertEd), Specialist CPD Facilitator

Continuing Professional Development(CPD) and the Changing Environment



Welcome to the fourth in a series of eight articlesabout success skills. Successful people havecertain habits in common, and these are all

learnable skills rather than fixed inherited characteristics.Let’s look at what you can do to make yourself moresuccessful at work:

Rapport buildingBeing liked by others is a key success skill. However cleveryou are, if people don’t like working with you then youwon’t be successful at anything. So, how to be liked…?

Generally we like people who make us feel good. So fora start we like people who are positive rather than negative(because negative people make us feel less happy, andbehind our backs they are probably being negative aboutUS too aren’t they?), and we like people who make us feelimportant by being good listeners. They ask us questionsand really listen to the answers. Instead of coming straightback with “Oh yes, I like that too, in fact I…” they say “Really,tell me more about that”. Make it a game, and then a habit,to not talk about yourself at all - don’t even say the word I!

We also like people who make us feel good bycomplimenting us. So find something that you think isgood and comment on it, honestly. Say you think it’s goodand then ask a question, for example “I love that car, howlong have you had it?” because then the compliment sticks.

Make it a habit to always find something good about aperson and tell them (not too personal, their office orcompany will do fine, though often there is somethingobviously on display that is asking to be noticed, like aphoto or a trophy).

We also like people who are similar to ourselves, soadapt to the style of others; it’s not dishonest, it’s polite. Ifthey are bouncy and enthusiastic, tell them stories and getexcited. If they are quiet and structured in their statementsthen take some time and explain the details of yourthinking. If they are terse and to-the-point then give them aquick summary of what you think, in sort sentences. If theyare warm and cuddly then put your feet up and tell themhow you feel. We all do this naturally, but it’s worthconsciously practicing and getting to be really good at.

Finally, you reap what you sow, so doing people favourswith no thought of reward, going the extra mile for themevery now and then, and keeping in touch, will bringsuccess at some point in the future. It has been shown thatthe more contacts people have, the more they earn, and ifyou think about it it’s obvious that success comes fromworking with others, in fact from helping others to besuccessful in whatever they are doing, and so the morepeople you know and the more you help them the moresuccessful you will be.

• Next time: Influencing.

Success Skills

Chris CroftChris Croft has an Engineering Degree from Cambridge and an MBA, worked asa senior manager in manufacturing for 10 years and then as a university lecturerfor five years before starting his own training company in 1995. Since then hehas trained over 40,000 people, and his free email tips are sent to 10,000 people(www.free-management-tips.co.uk). Chris runs training courses in ProjectManagement, Time Management and similar subjects almost every day, and hasalso produced a range of books (see www.chriscrofttraining.co.uk andwww.lulu.com), including "Time Management". Chris runs successfulCertificate in Management (CMS) and Diploma in Management Studies (DMS)courses validated by Edexcel for clients including the NHS South West andothers in the public sector.

Legal Disclaimer:The materials contained in this journal are for general information purposes only. The Association ofPharmacy Technicians UK cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage whatsoever which mayarise from reliance on information contained in this journal, except as may be required by law andspecific advice should be sought on any particular issue. We make no representations, warranties orguarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information provided in this journal.



Documents

PHARMACY TECHNICIAN JOURNAL...membership will be timed as a rolling year. We believe this will benefit members, as they can decide the start date for their DD and the first membership