Pharmacy technicians play an important role within general practice and complement the more clinical work of clinical pharmacists, through utilisation of their technical skillset. Working within primary care settings allows the pharmacy technician to apply their acquired pharmaceutical knowledge in tasks such as audits, discharge management, prescription issuing, and where appropriate, informing patients and other members of the primary care network (PCN) workforce. Work is often under the direction of clinical pharmacists as part of the PCN pharmacy team.
Pharmacy Technicians can provide care and support to patients and their carers to ensure that the medicines are taken correctly. This can include supporting regimes and being a gateway to further clinical assessment by a Pharmacist, non-medical prescriber or GP if needed. They could be key in reviewing older/frail persons with cancer or care home population with cancer. Audits and monitoring related to oral nutritional supplements could also be managed by this group. This would support prescribing and deprescribing in a cancer/palliative patient population. They also have the skillset to provide healthy lifestyle advice and signpost to other services.
A Pharmacy Technician can support the following:
Prevention
- Making every contact count
- Healthy Lifestyle advice including smoking cessation
- Coding for Qof Register
Personalised Care
- Signposting to other services
- Enhanced healthcare in Care Homes
- Tackling health inequalities
Medication Review
- Nutritional supplements review
- Problems taking medications
Patients and carers want support when taking medications becomes difficult to take or manage. Pharmacy Technicians can be key and helping with the management of this in a time that can be complex and emotionally difficult helping to reduce stress and improve medication adherence and access. Community Pharmacy Technicians are often involved in smoking cessation and healthy lifestyle advice. Having this service in a PCN would potentially bring care closer to home which is often sighted as important to patients.
We can offer training and education to help you support and provide personalised care to cancer patients, learn more about cancer and provide information to support your patients. Please see here for more details (Appendix 6).
Wessex Cancer Alliance provides a Primary Care Newsletter which provides up to date information and education offers. Please contact us if you would like to subscribe.
Macmillan also provide a Primary Care Update which includes latest developments, learning and case studies relating to cancer across primary care, to sign up please access the following link: Sign up for Primary Care Update – Macmillan Cancer Support
This is a role that will not be employed for cancer patients alone. We have provided some insight on how you could widen the responsibilities of employed Pharmacy Technicians and how this will help deliver the GP Contract DES and other primary care responsibilities (Appendix 9).
If you do not employ Pharmacy Technicians but are interested in learning more of the role please access Pharmacy Technicians – Dorset Primary Care Training Hub (primarycaredorset.co.uk) and Wessex LMCs: PCN Workforce – ARRS for more details.
Wessex Cancer Alliance provides a Primary Care Newsletter which provides up to date information and education offers. Please contact us if you would like to subscribe.
