The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7246 p595
26 April 2003

Society summary

Council agrees framework for ensuring the competence of dispensary assistants

The Council of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has agreed a framework for implementing its policy on the minimum standard of competence for dispensary assistants. The Council has decided that by January 2005 all staff involved in assembling prescriptions, including generating labels, should be trained to a minimum standard equivalent to Level 2 of the Scottish/National Vocational Qualification (S/NVQ) in pharmacy services or be undertaking training in this respect.

The Society says that it fully supports dispensary assistants undertaking the S/NVQ but, because many employers and organisations already have excellent training programmes in place, it has decided that an alternative to the S/NVQ framework should be available. This alternative will use the standards developed for the S/NVQ Level 2 and require training providers to demonstrate that their programmes are of an equivalent Level in delivering the underpinning knowledge and assessing competence. The Society, or its agent, will determine this equivalence and accredit training programmes as equivalent to S/NVQ Level 2.

The Society also recognises that dispensary assistants form a transient population, many of whom are employed part-time. The roles and tasks assigned to this level of staff can vary greatly.

The Society says that its function as a regulator is to ensure that all staff working in a pharmacy have the knowledge and competencies to perform the tasks and roles assigned to them. It would expect dispensary assistants to have completed all the units from the S/NVQ Level 2 or an equivalent course related to the roles and tasks they perform. The standard operating procedures for each pharmacy will indicate the level of competence expected for each function performed by dispensary assistants.

Therefore, from January 2005, dispensary assistants will be able to meet the minimum standard of competence in one of four ways:

• Successful achievement of the S/NVQ Level 2 in pharmacy services

• Successful achievement of the units in the S/NVQ Level 2 that are relevant to the roles and responsibilities undertaken by the dispensary assistant

• Successful achievement of a training programme accredited to be of an equivalent level to S/NVQ Level 2

• Successful achievement of the units of an accredited training programme of an equivalent level to S/NVQ Level 2 that are relevant to the roles and responsibilities undertaken by the dispensary assistant

The Society's head of practice, Nigel Graham, said: "We are delighted that the Council has agreed a framework for meeting the minimum standard of competence for dispensary assistants. This will enable employers or training providers to develop training programmes for dispensary assistants that ensures their competence in the roles they perform. The practice division, in consultation with employers and training providers, will shortly begin work on the detailed issues surrounding the minimum standard such as models for accreditation, the grandparent clause, reciprocity and time limits for commencement and completion. Further details will be presented to the Council in due course."

Further information about the framework is available from Kailas Mahadevaiah at the Society's headquarters (tel 020 7572 2537; e-mail kmahadevaiah@rpsgb.org.uk).