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Pharmacy Assistant

Pharmacy Assistants help Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians order, prepare, and dispense medicines. (NHS)

A pharmacy shop

Pharmacy Assistants are essential to the smooth running of pharmacies, making sure patients get the most out of their medicines. The role is one with the expectations of high standards and the ability to be methodical and meticulous. 

You’ll work under the supervision of a pharmacist and a pharmacy technician in some cases. You’ll work with patients every day and help with their prescriptions. You’ll also answer their questions, either face-to-face or over the phone.   

You will make sure that the pharmacy has the necessary stock by ordering items as well as receiving, loading, and unloading deliveries. If working in a hospital or health centre, you may deliver medicines to other wards or healthcare professionals.   

A lot of your role would be customer service therefore these skills are vital. 

Your working day will be varied, and you will need a variety of skills! 

You can work a similar role within a community setting or in a hospital, with the same qualification, but the skills and attributes you will need, will vary. 

You can also work in and aseptic pharmacy unit (see profile for Pharmacy Technician aseptic unit for further details). This role is quite different from other pharmacy roles particularly in respect of the working day and wearing PPE in the workplace. You will not have as much if any patient contact and will be working in a sterile environment.   

For some this is an area of practice they really enjoy, for others working in hospital dispensary or in community pharmacy is more appealing. 

You day will involve: 

  • giving out medications  
  • talking to customers on the phone and in person 
  • create labels to tell people how to take medicine
  • order new stock using computerised systems
  • take calls from GP surgeries, nursing homes and clinics 
  • deliver medicines to wards (hospital based) 
  • enter medicine data on computerised dispensing systems
  • give advice to customers about prescriptions and refer complex queries to the pharmacist
  • sell over the counter medicines (Community Pharmacy)
  • handle confidential information
  • refer complex queries to the pharmacist

You need to have:

  • Customer service skills 
  • Patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • The ability to work well with others
  • To be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • excellent verbal communication skills 
  • the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
  • to enjoy working with other people 
  • the ability to read English
  • To be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
  • Ability to keep records and use IT systems

Pharmacy Assistants will usually start at band 2 or 3. 

Salary ranges around: £16000 – £24000.

37.5 usually and there are opportunities to work part time. 

There will be weekend work and evenings. 

The main employers are: 

  • The NHS 
  • Community pharmacies 
  • Private hospitals 
  • Prisons 
  • Health centres 
  • The most straightforward route at any age to looking for pharmaceutical work experience is to approach your local pharmacy. Go in with your CV and explain that you are interested in a career as a pharmacy assistant, they may be able to show you the ropes or answer any questions you have about starting a career. 
  • Your local hospital will also support you but again best to approach directly or via Royal Voluntary service. 
  • Any experience in customer service roles and/or retail would support an application as the nature of the role is very customer service focused. 

 

The role is varied and involves working within a team.  

You will need to be precise, organised, careful and meticulous. You will need skills that are varied, ranging from IT to customer services. 

You will need good numeracy and literacy skills too! 

Career Progression

With experience and a recognised qualification, you could become a senior pharmacy assistant, supervisor or manager.  

With further training, you could become a pharmacy technician. 

Routes to become a Pharmacy Assistant :

The routes into this role are: 

  • a college courses (customer services/retail) 
  • an apprenticeship 
  • a trainee position
  • applying directly 

College option: 

You could do a college course to get some of the skills you’ll need as a pharmacy assistant. Because of the real emphasis on customer services skills this can be a route in. 

You could do a Level 2 or 3 Certificate in Retail Skills.  

  • You can apply for jobs directly for a pharmacy assistant position. Vacancies in the NHS are advertised on the NHS Jobs website.
  • Vacancies outside of the NHS will be advertised locally by the employer, so it you might find adverts in the local newspaper, on websites for community pharmacies and GP surgeries in your local area, in job centres and on many of the main recruitment and job websites.   
  • Apprenticeship roles: Level 2 pharmacy services assistant roles advertised on recruitment sites as well as on the government apprenticeship site.  

Apprenticeship

Entry requirements: 

  • GCSEs usually 2/3, usually including English and Maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship. 

Gaining that work experience and having some customer services skills will be vital. Part time work or other work skills you can transfer will play a part in you being successful applying for a role.

Great communication skills verbal and written are essential as are maths skills.