The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7424 p530
28 October 2006

Society summary

Pharmacy technicians encouraged to register and vote in English and Welsh board elections

Pharmacy technicians who are not yet on the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's voluntary register are being encouraged to join so that they can make their voices heard in the elections to the Society's new national pharmacy boards for England and Wales.

Technicians who join the register now will not have to pay the full retention fee for 2006 on top of their initial registration fee. Instead, they will pay a fee that will take their registration through to the end of 2007.

Joining immediately will not only allow technicians to vote in the board elections but will also allow them to stand for election themselves if they can meet the closing date for nominations of noon on Friday 3 November.

A pharmacy technician may seek election to the English Pharmacy Board if he or she has a registered address in Britain and lives or works wholly or mainly in England. A technician standing for the Welsh Pharmacy Board must have a registered address in Wales.

Technicians who wish to vote in the elections must join the register by 5pm on Thursday 16 November to be eligible to vote.

The Society’s head of support staff regulation, Janet Flint, says: “Pharmacy technicians have come a long way in the past couple of years since the opening of the voluntary register, and over 4,000 are now demonstrating their commitment to maintain high standards of professional practice by being registered with the Society.

“Pharmacy technicians on the voluntary register will have the opportunity to stand for the Welsh and English pharmacy boards and to help shape the new boards in England and Wales by voting for their preferred technician candidates. In short, this is a perfect opportunity for pharmacy technicians to influence and shape the development of pharmacy at a national level.”

Pharmacy technicians with queries about the registration process, or those wishing to be sent a registration application pack, should contact the Support Staff Section, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, 1 Lambeth High Street, London SE1 7JN (tel 020 7572 2610). Further information and application packs can also be found on the registration pages of the Society’s website.