Pharmacy Technician (Community)

As a Pharmacy Technician you will: 

• take in and hand out prescriptions 
• receive and ordering stock 
• offer people advice on how to best manage their medicines 
• dispense medicines to people, either on prescription or ‘over the counter’ 
• provide information on potential side-effects of medicines 
• give face-to-face or over the phone advice about health, lifestyle and medicines 
• undertake final checks on prescriptions 
• supervise other pharmacy staff, including Pharmacy Assistants and Dispensary Assistants 
• refer patients on to the pharmacist

As a Pharmacy Technician you will need to: 

• good communication skills    
• ability to work effectively with your colleagues, patients and the public  
• be able to maintain confidentiality and privacy  
• to be responsible, accurate and methodical, with good attention to detail 
• an interest in helping people and improving people’s health   
• excellent oral and written communication 
• excellent customer care 
• working knowledge of pharmacy, hospital and/or general practice computer systems 

The salary of a newly qualified pharmacy technician would start at £20,329 rising to £31,533 with experience.

You would typically work 37 – 40 hours a week and you would be expected to work weekdays, weekends and bank holidays on a rota basis.  

As a Pharmacy Technician you could work in:  

• NHS hospitals   
• private hospitals such as BUPA or Nuffield 
• community pharmacies  
• GP practices and local Primary Care Networks 
• care homes   
• prisons  
• the armed forces  
• pharmaceutical industry   

Practical experience of working in a relevant clinical pharmacy environment whether in a hospital, GP practice, community health centre or a community pharmacy, is preferred. However, any public facing, customer role is relevant. 

As a Pharmacy Technician you can expect to: 

• work under the close supervision of Pharmacists 
• work in a busy, demanding environment 
• have a sharp focus on quality control and working to deadlines 
• if working in community settings, possibly work in a small team comprising of one Pharmacist and one Pharmacy Assistant