Pharmacy Technician

Regulators
  • General Pharmaceutical Council
Nations
  • England
  • Scotland
  • Wales
Sectors
  • Health and care

Regulatory or professional bodies

Primary regulator

Regulatory authority
General Pharmaceutical Council
Address

Level 14
1 Cabot Square
London
E14 4QJ

Phone number
+44 (0)20 3713 8000

Regulation

Regulation summary

Pharmacy Technicians work in a wide range of settings, including (but not exclusively):

registered pharmacies, community services, justice (HM Prison Service), GP Practices, dispensing doctors’ practices, care homes and clinical commissioning groups, hospitals, mental health, defence (HM Armed Services) and within the pharmaceutical industry. They prepare medicines and other healthcare products for the supply to patients. They also take an active role in providing patients with guidance on taking medicines.

Pharmacy technicians manage the supply of medicines and devices in a pharmacy and assist pharmacists with advisory services. Pharmacy technicians are involved in the following areas:

• providing safe and effective pharmacy services
• supply medicines and devices to patients, whether on prescription or over the counter
• achieving the best outcomes through a patient’s medicines
• assemble medicines for prescriptions
• provide information to patients and other healthcare professionals
• manage areas of medicines supply such as dispensaries
• supervise other pharmacy staff / training and development
• answering customers questions face to face or by phone
• pre-packing, assembling and labelling medicines
• referring problems or queries to the pharmacist
• manufacturing
• aseptic dispensing
• quality control
• procurement
• information technology
• clinical trials
• medicines information

Pharmacy technicians practising in Great Britain are regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council (‘GPhC’). The role of the GPhC is to protect, promote and maintain the health, safety and wellbeing of members of the public, particularly those who use or need the services of pharmacy professionals, or the services provided at a registered pharmacy. This is done by ensuring that pharmacy technicians, pharmacists and those carrying on a retail pharmacy business at a registered pharmacy, adhere to the standards set by the GPhC as necessary for the safe and effective practice of pharmacy.

Regulation type

Certification

Reserved activities

Only professionals registered as pharmacy technicians in Part 2 on the GPhC’s Register are permitted to use the title ‘pharmacy technician’ or ‘technegydd fferylliaeth’ (its equivalent in the Welsh language).

Protected titles

The title of 'pharmacy technician’ is protected. It is an offence to use the title ‘pharmacy technician’ or ‘technegydd fferylliaeth’ (its equivalent in the Welsh language) without being entered as a pharmacy technician in Part 2 on the GPhC’s Register.

It is also an offence to use the titles ‘chemist and druggist’, ‘druggist’, ‘dispensing chemist’, and ‘dispensing druggist’ or take or use the title of ‘chemist’ in connection with the sale of any goods by retail or the supply of any goods in circumstances corresponding to retail sale.


Qualifications and experience

New professionals

Routes to qualification

• Completing both a knowledge qualification/course and a competence qualification; OR a combined competence and knowledge-based qualification/course, and

• A minimum of two years’ work-based experience in the UK, Isle of Man or Channel Islands under the supervision, direction or guidance of a pharmacist or pharmacy technician to whom the applicant was directly accountable.

GPhC-accredited courses, GPhC-recognised qualifications and GPhC-approved apprenticeship pathway are listed on the GPhC’s website.

Applicants must apply for registration as a pharmacy technician within five calendar years of commencement on a recognised course or within two years of completing the last recognised course.

Professionals from outside the UK

Recognition for professionals outside the UK
All - there are routes to recognition for professionals from all countries
Summary of routes

Applicants will need to demonstrate their English language skills meet our requirements.

Qualification route – EEA-EFTA

If you have trained or been registered as a pharmacy technician in Iceland, Lichtenstein, or Norway, would be required to:

• provide evidence of their pharmacist qualification and supporting documents;
• complete a self-assessment to demonstrate where their qualification and/or experience shows that they would meet the knowledge and skills required through the UK initial education and training learning outcomes.

Applicants may then be required to complete a period of adaptation (training), and/or pass an aptitude test (exam), before they can apply to join the register of pharmacy technicians.

Qualification route - Switzerland

The UK and Switzerland are party to the Citizens’ Rights Agreement (CRA), meaning Swiss nationals and any dependents or spouses with acquired rights in Switzerland can apply for registration with the GPhC. This agreement runs until 2024.

Please note: the Recognition of Professional Qualifications provisions of the CRA apply to Swiss and UK nationals only.

Applicants have until the end of 2024 to apply for recognition where they had not started the relevant procedure before the Implementation Period Completion Date, as long as they are qualified or were in the process of gaining their qualifying before that date.

Qualification route – Overseas

If you have trained or been registered as a pharmacy technician in a country outside the UK (apart from Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland) you must complete additional qualifications (and undertake work experience) in the UK before you can apply to join the GPhC register and practise as a pharmacy technician.

These requirements are to:

• Completing both a knowledge qualification/course and a competence qualification; OR a combined competence and knowledge-based qualification/course, and

• Complete a minimum of two years’ work-based experience in the UK, Isle of Man or Channel Islands under the supervision, direction or guidance of a pharmacist or pharmacy technician to whom the applicant was directly accountable or meet alternative work-experience requirements.

Applicants must apply for registration as a pharmacy technician within five calendar years of starting on a recognised course or within two years of completing the last recognised course.

More about recognition for professionals outside the UK
https://www.pharmacyregulation.org/pharmacy-technicians/registering-pharmacy-technician

Registration

Registration requirements

To practise as pharmacy technician in England, Scotland or Wales you must apply for, and maintain, registration with the GPhC. Following acceptance onto the Register as a pharmacy technician, professionals must renew their registration with the GPhC each year. As part of the renewal process, professionals must declare that they are mentally and physically fit to practise.

In addition to renewing their registration, professionals must complete a process termed ‘revalidation’ in order to maintain their registration with the GPhC. This involves carrying out, recording and submitting:

• A minimum of four Continuing Professional Development records (two of which must be planned learning activities);
• A peer discussion; and
• A reflective account record, in which they would reflect on how they have met one or more of the standards for pharmacy professionals in their practice.


Legislation

Title of relevant act or charter

Pharmacy Order 2010
The Medicines (Pharmacies) (Responsible Pharmacist) Regulations 2008
Medicines Act 1968
The Human Medicines Regulations 2012
Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013
The Poisons Act 1972

Licence Finder

You may need licences and permits to carry out certain activities in the UK. These are called authorisations. Use the licence finder to find what you need.