Pharmacy Technician Day

Tuesday, 21 October is Pharmacy Technician Day. 

It is an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the invaluable contributions to patient care that pharmacy technicians make everyday. 

Here at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, we have 39 pharmacy technicians working in various roles within the in-patient pharmacy. 

In a special feature, we have taken a look at seven pharmacy technicians supporting patient care. 

Charlie Armer is a Senior Pharmacy Technician working in Homecare Medicines Service. The service looks after approximately 3,000 patients across Lancashire and South Cumbria who receive their medications via a homecare service. 

Some of Charlie's key responsibilities include:

• Managing new patient prescriptions

• Overseeing homecare company performance

• Handling complaints

• Participating in and organising service review meetings.

What do you enjoy about your role?

Our patients are being treated for chronic conditions that can be debilitating and have a major impact on their quality of life. I am proud to work in this area, as this service means these patients have access to this life changing treatment but in the comfort of their own home without the need for hospital admissions or clinic visits. I am enjoying building up my knowledge and understanding of Biologic medicines and the conditions that they are treating.

Amanda Smith is a Senior Pharmacy Technician working in Electronic
Prescribing and Medicines Administration (EPMA).

One of Amanda's responsibilities is the day-to-day maintenance of MedChart, the Trust's EPMA system. This includes:

• Liaising with lead pharmacists on policy changes

• Vigorously testing changes before they are built into the live system

• Adding new medications

• Building protocols, quick lists and rules to aid in the prescribing and administering of medicines

• Looking at errors, incidents and stock supply issues and making changes or amendments to reduce the risks of them happening again. 

What do you enjoy about your role?

Knowing that the work our team does, and the changes we implement directly impact the end users, so that we can help streamline their prescribing and administering processes. One example is the work we have done with the Neonatal unit. As they work quite differently to other areas of the Trust, we had regular meetings to see how we could make changes within MedChart to better reflect their practice to ensure the safe prescribing and administration of medications to their patients.

Jodie Rogerson is a Pharmacy Technician on the Acute Medical Unit (AMU). 

Jodie's main role is carrying out drug histories for patients on the ward, often in a fast-paced environment. Ensuring that this is done in a timely manner, this helps ensure that patients receive their prescribed medications correctly and critical medications are not missed or delayed. Their aim is try and ensure all patients are seen by Pharmacy within 24 hours of admission to hospital. They are a physical presence on the ward and are available to help nurses with queries and support the prompt supply of medications. 

What do you enjoy about your role? 

Being on the ward and speaking to the patients is the most enjoyable and rewarding part of my job. I enjoy working alongside the nurses and doctors in the wider team to ensure patients receive the best, safest care with their medications.

Sam Dakin is a Pharmacy Technician working in the Aseptic Unit. 
The Aseptic Unit is a sterile environment where pharmacy colleagues produce medicines such as chemotherapy treatments and intravenous nutrition. 

Learn more about the work of the Aseptic Unit in this special feature: Pharmacy team working behind the scenes to provide lifesaving treatment :: Blackpool Teaching Hospitals.

Some of Sam's responsibilities are: 

• Preparation of cytotoxic chemotherapy in specialised isolators

• Leading the team to ensure all patients receive their treatment on time

• Training of new colleagues

• Revalidation processes for all colleagues.

What do you enjoy about your role?

I enjoy the training of staff and seeing their confidence grow when they become competent in different areas.  The thing I love most is knowing that the medication we prepare is giving our patients more precious time with their families.

Phil Hove works as a Pharmacy Technician within Clinical Trials. 

Phil's roles is to support the preparation, handling, storage and documentation of investigational medicinal products (IMP) used in clinical research studies. He acts as a crucial link between the pharmacy, clinical research teams and sponsors to ensure the safe and accurate dispensing of trial medication in compliance with regulatory standards and study protocol. Through this role, Phil has developed an appreciation for the ethical considerations in clinical research and the responsibility of protecting patient safety and confidentiality.

What do you enjoy about your role?

Working as a Clinical Trials Pharmacy Technician is both rewarding and intellectually stimulating. One of the aspects I enjoy is being part of groundbreaking medical research that has the potential to improve and even save lives. I also enjoy the precision and structure required in this role. The attention to detail, adherence to protocols, need for accuracy in handling IMPs adds professional value, but most importantly ensures patient safety.

Kyle Hampton is a Pharmacy Technician working in the Critical Care Unit. 

Some of Kyle's responsibilities are: 

• Assessing patient medication records on critical care areas

• Complete their medication histories, this can often be quite complex due to the nature of their admission where they are often sedated

• Highlighting prescribing issues and resolving problems for any incorrectly documented medications

• Advising nursing staff for medication queries relating to suitability for enteral tube administration.

What do you enjoy about your role?

Feeling like I can make a difference for patients by identifying or finding issues with compliance or prescribing related issues to resolve them quickly and being able to feel like I contribute to the wider multi-disciplinary team by being a source of contact for any medication related queries.

Cathy Belford works as a Pharmacy Technician within Antimicrobial Stewardship. 

An antimicrobial is an agent that kills micro-organisms or stops their growth to prevent or treat infections. This is an umbrella term for a class of drugs that includes antibiotics (for bacteria), antifungals (for fungi), and antivirals (for viruses). The role of stewardship involves the promotion of the responsible usage of antibiotics within an organisation to combat resistance.

Some of Cathy's responsibilities are: 

• Monitor antimicrobial usage within the Trust

• Monitoring antimicrobial supply issues and taking action

• Manage the antimicrobial formulary compliance

• Ensure policies and procedures relating to antimicrobial stewardship are reviewed and updated

• Promoting antimicrobial awareness across the Trust.

What do you enjoy about your role?

Helping to ensure that patients are being treated with appropriate antibiotics. The reporting I do helps us monitor how we perform within the Trust and against other Trusts in our ICB. Having the freedom to organise my workload and plan how I will manage my day. Enjoy my involvement in World Antimicrobial Awareness week to promote this across the Trust.

Thank you to all our Pharmacy Technician colleagues for the work that they do to support patient care across the Trust.