Are you searching for how to become a pharmacy technician in the UK?
Then, you must be stepping into a critical healthcare role that combines precision, patient care, and medical science.
Pharmacy technicians assist in preparing, supplying, and managing medicines under the supervision of a pharmacist.
In the UK, to be a pharmacy technician, you must complete both academic training and practical experience.
So, if you are planning to be a pharmacy technician or looking for a job change, this guide will provide valuable insights into every aspect.
This guide will simplify your journey to this appreciating profession. Ready to get started?
Let’s dive in.
Who is a Pharmacy Technician?
Pharmacy technicians are licensed healthcare professionals who work under the supervision of pharmacists.
Pharmacy technicians play a major role in preparing and dispensing medicines, managing administrative tasks, and offering patient service within a pharmacy setting.
Alongside a licensed pharmacist, a pharmacy technician handles a variety of duties, including counting, labelling, and processing medications. The pharmacy technicians often advise patients regarding proper medication usage.
What Does a Pharmacy Technician Do?
- Counting and packaging medications into bottles
- Applying labels to the bottles
- Seeking doctors’ authorisation for prescription refills
- Contacting insurance providers to correct the coverage issues
- Taking inventory of the available medications in the pharmacy
- Dealing with customers’ questions and concerns
- Maintaining customers’ prescription records
- Assisting the pharmacist in other tasks
5 Steps On How to Become a Pharmacy Technician in the UK:
Wondering how to become a pharmacy technician in the UK? Look at this simple roadmap, where I will provide the exact key steps that turn your healthcare aspiration into reality.
Step 1: Obtain Educational Requirements:
You must be concerned about meeting the foundational pharmacy technician training requirements. In the UK, to become a pharmacy technician means completing both academic and practical experiences.
You will need to complete a two-year GPHC (General Pharmaceutical Council) accredited course, such as the Level 3 Diploma in Pharmacy Service Skills and Level 3 Diploma in Pharmaceutical Science.
You can take these courses as an apprenticeship, which allows you to earn while you learn.
You must work in an industry, hospital, or community with a pharmacy setting. In an apprenticeship course, the employer will cover your course fees.
Step 2: Register to Practice:
After completing your training, you have to apply for GPHC registration. It is a legal requirement to practice as a pharmacy technician in the UK.
Remember that you have to pass the written exam and the practical assessment to complete the registration process.
The written test exam covers pharmacy law and ethics, while the practical exam covers dispensing mock prescriptions and more.
The pharmacy registration costs around 100 to 200 pounds, including annual renewal fees. Once registered, you will join the GPHC public register, which will unlock the probable opportunities in the UK.
Step 3: Pursue Further Education:
Focus on boosting your salary prospects in the UK by specialising in some subjects.
You can ensure success through exploring certifications in areas like diabetes care, mental health, oncology, and more. Many UK employers fund these courses, so you can look out for them.
Similarly, advance to responsibilities like senior pharmacy technician, and more. Pursuing further education opens up many doors to high-paying positions for you.
Step 4:Apply for Job Roles:
Once you are ready to apply for pharmacy technician jobs, prepare your CV. You must include some relevant experiences, like any coursework, volunteer work, or customer service experience.
If you have completed pharmacy-accredited technician training and registration with GPHC, you should mention and highlight this in the CV.
In the UK’s competitive job market, niche skills, such as being efficient in a community language, can set you apart from the crowd.
While applying, you should be prepared for some questions at the interviews. Think about the answers to the questions below. Just prepare them ahead of the interviews.
- Why do you want to be a pharmacy technician?
- How do you handle an upset customer?
- Where do you see yourself as a pharmacy technician in the following five years?
- How do you manage the stress from your job?
- What do you do if you see your coworker stealing medications?
Step 5: Keep Learning:
Once you get hired, don’t leave the studies. You should put yourself in a position to keep learning. You can opt for courses, either online or offline, which will help you to become a better pharmacy technician in the future.
With some further training and experience, pharmacy technicians can move forward in managerial roles.
A pharmacy technician can also become a chemotherapy technician, nuclear pharmacy technician, or some other area of pharmacy.
What are the Skills and Qualities of an Efficient Pharmacy Technician?
Mastering how to become a pharmacy technician in the UK requires combining practical skills with technical skills. Glance at the key qualities and skills that set you apart from the competition.
Attention to Detail:
A single decimal error in the medication dosage can have serious impacts on the patients’ health. Whether labelling medication, you should deeply focus on filling prescription bottles or printing labels.
There is no space for error because a patient receiving the wrong medication could have devastating consequences.
Customer Service:
Pharmacy technicians are the first point of communication for the patients. So, you should be calm and relaxed when handling customers.
You should explain medication instructions and handle all the queries about the medications. You will interact with the customers throughout the day, so you should practice active listening.
In contrast, you should provide empathetic customer service and maintain clear communication with them.
Math’s Proficiency:
From converting milligrams to millilitres, and calculating the exact pediatric dosses, math proficiency can prevent the errors.
Accurate mathematical calculations are crucial for preparing and dispensing the correct medications. You have to calculate the exact dosage based on patient-specific parameters such as weight.
Math skills are also important to manage the inventory levels and orders for products.
Computer Skills:
Nowadays, almost every modern hospitals or pharmacy maintain all the records on computers. So, you should be compatible with the advanced technology to access and record information all day long.
You must be efficient using various software programs to interact with insurance providers, suppliers, operate automated dispensing systems, keep patient data, and more.
Problem-Solving Skills:
What would you do if the prescribed medications clash with the patient’s allergies? Yes, a pharmacy technician should have the problem-solving skills to handle insurance claims, patients’ issues, address medication, and more.
Conclusion:
How to become a pharmacy technician in the UK comprises a wealth of career opportunities in front of you.
You should understand what employers are looking for, what the best skillset is to grab a job offer, and where to search for the job.
Moreover, becoming a pharmacy technician in the UK is a competitive career choice, so you must take care of your interpersonal skills, too.
Whether you choose to work in a hospital, a pharmacy, industry, or community, pharmacy technicians are the vital key link in the patient care segment.
A pharmacy technician ensures the right medicine goes to the right patient, safely and efficiently.