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A community apprenticeship programme for preregistration trainee pharmacy technicians, which funds community pharmacies with £15,000 per trainee per year, has been launched by NHS England.
In an announcement published on 4 October 2024, NHS England said the programme “will support preregistration trainee pharmacy technicians to be employed and complete their full 24-month apprenticeship training within a community pharmacy setting”.
“Upon completion of training and registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council [GPhC], the pharmacy technician will be able to support community pharmacy to utilise the expertise and knowledge of a registered professional as part of community pharmacy services and the wider healthcare reform,” the statement added.
The programme must meet the GPhC’s ‘Standards for the initial education and training of pharmacy technicians’ and NHS England’s ‘Education quality framework’.
NHS England’s Workforce, Training and Education Directorate said that it will offer a training contribution of £15,053 per trainee per year for two years to support sites in developing the programme.
Pharmacy sites can apply for funding through an expression of interest. Applications are open until 13 October 2024.
In March 2024, the government announced that pharmacy technicians would be able to administer and supply medicines under patient group directions. Pharmacy technicians were added to the list of professions given this power following a consultation.
Commenting on the announcement, Alastair Buxton, director of NHS services at Community Pharmacy England, said: “It is good to see NHS England investing in the community pharmacy workforce, but this needs to be backed up by sustainable funding for pharmacies.
“The pharmacy workforce has been under great strain, with many pharmacy owners telling us that staffing their pharmacies has become an ongoing struggle.
“As government compiles its ten-year strategy for the NHS, we will be reiterating our call for a plan to safeguard the pharmacy workforce, as well as wider investment and support for the community pharmacy network.
“Community pharmacy wants to do more to help patients and the NHS, but pharmacies need their baseline funding to be appropriately reset to allow them to recruit and retain pharmacists and other staff members.”
Gareth Jones, director of external and corporate affairs at the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), said: “This is a positive development for independent community pharmacy that will help to expand our workforce and address some long-term recruitment challenges.
“We’re supporting NPA members to take full advantage of apprenticeship programmes, which will help them to expand the skills of their teams and bring more qualified staff into pharmacies.”
