|
January 2003 saw the introduction of a new section
in Hospital Pharmacist. "Focus on technicians" is aimed
at technicians, but not exclusively for them. The articles will
show how hospital pharmacy technicians are pushing forward their
traditional boundaries and making a full contribution to the profession
|
May 2008
|
|
Homecare medicines — managing the performance of suppliers
Over the past decade, the number of
patients receiving medicines services at home has increased dramatically.
Although homecare services are often outsourced, the need for ensuring
quality of service should not be ignored by the NHS
(PDF 50K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2008;15:187-188 (May 2008)
|
April 2008
|
|
Empowering technicians to work in extended
clinical roles
Pharmacy technicians at the Queen Elizabeth
Hospital in Gateshead are working in a variety of new clinical
roles. This article describes these new roles and their impact
on service delivery and patient care
(PDF 50K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2008;15:145-146 (April 2008)
|
March 2008
|
|
New professional body — are technicians in or out?
Steve Acres, vice-president of the Association
of Pharmacy Technicians (UK), looks at why there is opposition
to technicians being included in the new professional body for
pharmacy and how APTUK is addressing this
(PDF 40K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2008;15:107-108 (March 2008)
|
February 2008
|
|
Medicine left at discharge — an audit of two orthopaedic wards
Medicines dispensed for a patient are often found on the ward after the patient has been discharged. This article describes an audit undertaken by a pharmacy technician to investigate why this happens and the estimated cost implications
(PDF 60K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2008;15:67-68 (February 2008)
|
January 2008
|
|
Clinical training for technicians
Extended roles for technicians are fundamental
to developing the pharmacy profession, but require additional training.
One technician shares her experience of completing a certificate
in psychiatric therapeutics
(PDF 30K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2008;15:28 (January 2008)
|
December 2007
|
|
Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK conference
Technicians who are providing innovative
services were given the opportunity to share their experience of
good practice at a conference organised by APTUK. Tess Fenn reports
(PDF 40K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2007;14:382 (December 2007)
|
November
2007
|
|
Taking drug histories — an audit of technician accuracy
Obtaining accurate drug histories from hospital patients is essential for providing a basis for making decisions on future therapy. An audit at Southampton General Hospital has examined the success of pharmacy technicians taking on this role
(PDF 50K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2007;14:351-352 (November 2007)
|
October
2007
|
|
Foundation degrees — building on the foundation of experience
A new course which enables pharmacy
technicians to build a formal qualification using their previous
experience is now available. This article describes the benefits
and challenges of the foundation degree, and how it will help equip
technicians with the skills they will need for the future
(PDF 40K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2007;14:311-312 (October 2007)
|
September
2007
|
|
Risk registers — benefits for medicines management
This article describes a pharmacy technician’s
involvement in a project to improve medicines management through
development and maintenance of a risk register
(PDF 30K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2007;14:272-274 (September 2007)
|
July/August
2007
|
|
The Yorkshire approach to training accredited checking technicians
Rather than training accredited checking
technicians “in house”at individual trusts, chief pharmacists
in Yorkshire have commissioned a county-wide training programme.
This article describes the course and the feedback received
(PDF 30K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2007;14:236 (July/August 2007)
|
June 2007
|
|
Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK conference
Recently introduced methods of commissioning
services that ultimately affect all those working in the NHS were
explained at the APTUK conference. Rachel Graham reports
(PDF 40K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2007;14:202 (June 2007)
|
May 2007
|
|
Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK conference
Shaping the future for technicians,
as a part of the wider pharmacy profession, was one of the main
themes of the APTUK conference. Rachel Graham reports
(PDF 40K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2007;14:172 (May 2007)
|
April 2007
|
|
A role in drug development — work of a clinical trials technician
Many clinical trials are performed in
UK hospitals and technicians are becoming increasingly involved
in their day-to-day organisation. This article, based on an interview
with Nicola Bowles from Guy’s Hospital, London, describes
the work of a clinical trials pharmacy technician
(PDF 90K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2007;14:139-140 (April 2007)
|
March 2007
|
|
What do technicians think about registration
and professionalism?
Statutory registration of pharmacy technicians
is set to become law in the future. This article describes a study
in which technicians’ perceptions of registration and becoming “professionals” were
analysed
(PDF 40K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2007;14:100-102 (March 2007)
|
February 2007
|
|
What’s new at the CPPE?
Support for pharmacy technicians undertaking
CPD is provided by the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education.
This article describes some recent initiatives
(PDF 90K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2007;14:68 (February 2007)
|
January 2007
|
|
Your KSF development review — how to collect evidence
Evidence to show that an individual is meeting the KSF outline for his or her post needs to be presented at his or her annual development review. This article describes the types of evidence that might be used and provides tips on how it can be collected
(PDF 60K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2007;14:26-28 (January 2007)
|
| |
December
2006
|
|
What will it mean for technicians to be part of a profession?
Professional socialisation, the subject of this article, is a topic of current
interest to pharmacy technicians as they prepare for statutory registration
and the changes to their professional status that this and other developments
may bring
(PDF 100K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2006;13:411-412 (December 2006)
|
November
2006
|
|
Use technicians to train nurses to help
manage discharge medicines
With the development of their roles comes the need for pharmacy technicians
to find more efficient ways of working. This article looks at a scheme where
technicians train nurses to deal with discharge medicines
(PDF 40K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2006;13:379-380 (November 2006)
|
October
2006
|
|
Developing a medicines management course
for pharmacy technicians
Training pharmacy technicians for extended roles has traditionally taken place “in
house”. This article describes a programme to develop a standardised course
for medicines management technicians working in the north-east of England and
Cumbria
(PDF 50K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2006;13:339-340 (October 2006)
|
September
2006
|
|
Developing a database to manage use of unlicensed medicines
When an unlicensed medicine is prescribed, various administrative requirements
need to be met before the drug can be dispensed. To manage these, a database
has been developed at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, which is described
in this article
(PDF 290K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2006;13:299-300 (September 2006)
|
July/August
2006
|
|
Auditing the recording of allergy status in community hospitals
Failures to record on a drug chart that a patient has a drug allergy can have
serious consequences. This article describes the results of an audit carried
out at four community hospitals in Sussex and suggests ways in which allergy
status recording can be improved
(PDF 50K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2006;13:259-260 (July/August 2006)
|
June
2006
|
|
Improving medicines management for older
patients on the move
Providing seamless care to older patients accessing various health and social
care facilities is particularly important. This article sets out the work of
pharmacy technicians in Darlington who do just that, ensuring that medicines-related
problems are kept to a minimum
(PDF 50K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2006;13:226-228 (June 2006)
|
May
2006
|
|
Association of Pharmacy Technicians United
Kingdom annual conference
Adapting to changes in professional regulation while continuing to care for
patients was the theme of the Association of Pharmacy Technicians United Kingdom
(APTUK) conference. Rachel Graham reports
(PDF 60K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2006;13:186-188 (May 2006)
|
April
2006
|
|
Emergency department — a role for pharmacy technicians
Amanda Buglass is the first pharmacy technician to take on the role of medicines
management technician in the emergency department at the Whittington Hospital.
In this article she describes how she has developed the role and the benefits
it has brought to the department
(PDF 50K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2006;13:139-140 (April 2006)
|
March
2006
|
|
Drug history taking — avoiding the common pitfalls
Pharmacy technicians are becoming increasingly involved in taking patients’ drug
histories on admission. This article describes the key points technicians should
be aware of to help improve medicines management from admission to discharge
(PDF 50K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2006;13:98-100 (March 2006)
|
February
2006
|
|
Medicines management technicians in mental health
Pharmacy services in Oxfordshire Mental Healthcare NHS Trust have
been redesigned over the past few years, extending the role of
medicines management technicians. This article looks at how the
role has developed and the benefits it brings to both patients
and staff
(PDF 120K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2006;13:58-60 (February 2006)
|
January
2006
|
|
First year of registration — the challenges ahead for technicians
It is one year since the Royal Pharmaceutical Society opened a
voluntary register for pharmacy technicians. Darren Leech looks
at the number of technicians who have registered and explains
why technicians need to ensure their interests are protected
(PDF 60K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2006;13:27-28 (January 2006)
|
| |
December
2005
|
|
Cancer services benefit from a clinical
liaison technician
The introduction of a clinical liaison technician to a chemotherapy
clinic has reduced patient waiting times, streamlined the service
and raised the profile of pharmacy in the trust. This article describes
the benefits of the role for all involved
(PDF 40K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2005;12:452-453 (December 2005)
|
November
2005
|
|
Introducing a technician-led inhaler counselling service
Patient counselling at the United Hospitals Trust has traditionally
been the responsibility of the pharmacist. This article looks at
how the role of the pharmacy technician has been developed to provide
trust-wide delivery of a technician-led inhaler counselling service
(PDF 110K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2005;12:417-418 (November 2005)
|
October
2005
|
|
Comparing the role of pharmacy technicians in the US and UK
While in Orlando to present their award-winning AAH Technician
of the Year 2004 projects, Judith Telford and Nirmala Soma took
the opportunity to visit the Florida Celebration Hospital and
discover what it is like to work as a pharmacy technician there.
This
article sets out their findings, drawing
some comparisons with UK practice
(PDF 450K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2005;12:379-380 (October 2005)
|
September
2005
|
|
Delivering CPD support— a role for pharmacy technicians
Continuing professional development is an opportunity for pharmacy
technicians, both in terms of reflecting on their own practice,
and helping others meet CPD requirements. This article looks
at the work of a specialist CPD facilitator, setting out aspects
of her day-to-day role
(PDF 110K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2005;12:327-330 (September 2005)
|
July/August
2005
|
|
Re-defining hospital pharmacy roles in West Cumberland
Recruitment problems forced staff at the West Cumberland Hospital
to review the provision of their pharmacy service. This article
reports on the new service that has been developed to make better
use of the skills of pharmacists and technicians
(PDF 110K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2005;12:281-282 (July/August 2005)
|
June
2005
|
|
Introducing a technician discharge prescription transcribing service
Speeding up patient discharge is a priority for many trusts. This
article looks at how having pharmacy technicians transcribe discharge
prescriptions brings benefits, including reducing turnaround
times for discharge medicines
(PDF 130K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2005;12:233-236 (June 2005)
|
May
2005
|
|
Association of Pharmacy Technicians United
Kingdom annual conference
Recent changes in pharmacy and health service policy and their
impact on pharmacy technicians was the theme of the Association
of Pharmacy Technicians United
Kingdom (APTUK) annual conference. Pamela Mason reports
(PDF 60K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2005;12:187-188 (May 2005)
|
April
2005
|
|
Hospital ePACT.net and how technicians can be involved
Hospital ePACT.net provides information on the prescribing and
dispensing of drugs on hospital outpatient
(FP10NC) forms. This article reports on the system and how one
pharmacy technician set up access to it in his trust
(PDF 80K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2005;12:155-156 (April 2005)
|
March
2005
|
|
Developing technician-focused Controlled Drug management
At Hexham General Hospital, all aspects of Controlled Drug
handling have traditionally been
the remit of pharmacists. This
article looks at how and why a scheme was implemented to increase
the involvement of technicians and pharmacy
assistants in this area of practice
(PDF 110K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2005;12:113-116 (March 2005)
|
February
2005
|
|
Opportunity for technicians to join Society’s Council arrives
Registration for pharmacy technicians and the new charter of the
Royal Pharmaceutical Society bring with them the opportunity
for technicians to serve on the Society’s Council. This
article explains the role and responsibilities of a Council member
and how pharmacy technicians can put their name forward for the
vote
(PDF 130K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2005;12:75-76 (February 2005)
|
January
2005
|
|
Should technicians provide an interpreting
service?
Language barriers can make it difficult for patients to take their
medicines as instructed. This article sets out details of a project
to evaluate the need for a pharmacy-based interpreting service
(PDF 90K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2005;12:31-33 ( January 2005)
|
| |
December
2004
|
|
Starting a pharmacy technician-led drug round
Nurses have many responsibilities on the ward which can result
in interruptions and delays to drug administration. This article
outlines an initiative to transfer responsibility for some drug
rounds from nurses to suitably trained pharmacy technicians,
who are focused on this one role
(PDF 60K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2004;11:477-478 ( December 2004)
|
November
2004
|
|
Rub hands and mix skills
Sessions about controlling MRSA, skill mix and Agenda for Change
were among those with relevance to pharmacy technicians held
at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester from 27
to 29 September. Rachel Graham reports
(PDF 65K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2004;11:435 (November 2004)
|
October
2004
|
|
Why not ask a technician to promote better
prescribing?
It is not just pharmacists who have a role in the national initiative
to promote the better hospital use of antimicrobials. This article
describes the work of a technician who has analysed prescribing
and helped influence drug use
(PDF 110K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2004;11:397-398 (October 2004)
|
September
2004
|
|
CPD for technicians — what support can
the CPPE provide?
The Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education is one of the organisations
which plans to support continuing professional development (CPD)
for pharmacy technicians. The second of our two articles on CPD
for pharmacy technicians outlines how this support will be provided
(PDF 65K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2004;11:349-350 (September 2004)
|
July/August
2004
|
|
CPD for technicians — the approach
of one trust to supporting its staff
Registration of pharmacy technicians brings with it the requirement
to complete continuing professional development (CPD). The first
of two articles on this topic outlines the approach taken by one
pharmacy department to support CPD for its technicians
(PDF 60K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2004;11:301-302 (July/August 2004)
|
June 2004
|
|
Technician involvement in modernising a clean
room
Rebuilding the West Middlesex University Hospital provided the
ideal opportunity to modernise the clean room. A pharmacy technician
was among the key members of the team responsible for ensuring
that the new facilities met the needs of staff and supported the
licensing of the unit
(PDF 100K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2004;11:253-254 (June 2004)
|
May 2004
|
|
Association of Pharmacy Technicians United
Kingdom annual conference
Having technicians as a key part of the health care team was a
major theme of the Association of Pharmacy Technicians United Kingdom
annual conference held at Templepatrick, Northern Ireland from
22–25 April. Rachel Graham reports
(PDF 150K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2004;11:208-210 (May 2004)
|
April 2004
|
|
Letting us all know about good practice
Much of the work done by technicians goes unnoticed beyond their
department, local hospital or trust. This article explains why
technicians should consider publishing articles about their contribution
to pharmacy services
(PDF 55K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2004;11:165-166 (April 2004)
|
March 2004
|
|
Consultation on code of ethics for technicians
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has published a draft code of
ethics for pharmacy technicians, and invited comments. This article
summarises the draft code and the consultation process
(PDF 160K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2004;11:112-114 (March 2004)
|
February
2004
|
|
US technician roles and registration requirements
Sessions for technicians were held at the American Society of Health-System
Pharmacists (ASHP) meeting in New Orleans, 7-11 December 2003.
This article reviews presentations of relevance to the UK
(PDF 85K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2004;11:62-65 (February 2004)
|
January
2004
|
|
Introducing a one-stop dispensing scheme
at a mental health unit
One-stop dispensing can reduce both drug wastage and the potential
for error. This article sets out how the dispensary manager, a
pharmacy technician, co-ordinated the introduction of the practice
at the mental health unit at Clacton and District Hospital
(PDF 85K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2004;11:23-24 (January 2004)
|
| |
December
2003
|
|
Introducing a medicines management service
led by a pharmacy technician
A technician-led ward medicines management service can reduce medication
errors and free pharmacist time. This article describes the introduction
of such a service at the Glan Clwyd Hospital in Denbighshire
(PDF 120K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2003;10:487-490 (December 2003)
|
November
2003
|
|
Insuring your grandparent?
The potential need for indemnity insurance for technicians, the
practicalities of how the “grandparent clause” will
work, and issues surrounding “Agenda for change” were
among the topics discussed at the APTUK study day held in Birmingham
on 28 October
(PDF 130K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2003;10:429-430 (November 2003)
|
October
2003
|
|
Pushing the boundaries — an interview
with Darren Leech
Darren Leech is the president of the Association of Pharmacy Technicians
UK. Here, he discusses his career to date, and sets out his vision
of the role of pharmacy technicians in the future
(PDF 80K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2003;10:377-379 (October 2003)
|
September
2003
|
|
Using the skills of a technician to coordinate
a medical gases service
Medical gases services have traditionally been an area where pharmacy
staff have had little input. That situation is not ideal. This
articles describes how a pharmacy technician has taken a more active
role in the running of the medical gases service
(PDF 130K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2003;10:324-327 (September 2003)
|
July/August
2003
|
|
Make a technician an active part of the team
Adopting a “skill mix” approach frees up pharmacist
time and enhances the job satisfaction of technicians. This article
describes the redesigning of the pharmacy-run anticoagulant clinic
at Barnsley District General Hospital to include a pharmacy technician
as an active member of the team
(PDF 90K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2003;10:283-285 (July/August 2003)
|
June 2003
|
|
The Manchester initiative
Crossing over from the community sector to the hospital sector
is being made easier, thanks to a new "top up" course developed
in Manchester. Debbie Andalo reports
(PDF 45K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2003;10:263 (June 2003)
|
May 2003
|
|
Technician's association to consult on criteria
for registration
"Dispensing with tradition" was the theme of the annual conference of the Association
of Pharmacy Technicians UK. An outline of the conference, held in Cambridge between
11 and 13 April, is given below
(PDF 135K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2003;10:195-197
(May 2003)
|
April 2003
|
|
Putting technicians on the map — an
interview with Lesley Morgan
Lesley Morgan has been a pharmacy technician for her entire working
life. As she comes to the end of her time as president of the Association
of Pharmacy Technicians UK, she tells Debbie Andalo about her career,
campaigns and achievements
(PDF 100K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2003;10:147-149
(April 2003)
|
March 2003
|
|
Leading research and development in Southampton
Joanna Cantle, an MTO5 pharmacy technician, is the lead for research
and development at Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust.
This interview explores the challenges of her first year in post
and anticipates the tasks ahead
(PDF 80K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2003;10:95-97
(March 2003)
|
February
2003
|
|
Changing roles for pharmacy technicians
In Scotland, technicians working in clinical pharmacy services
and medicines information have been thin on the ground. As this
article shows, change is happening
(PDF 140K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2003;10:43-47
(February 2003)
|
January
2003
|
|
Development of a clinical pharmacy technician
training course
This article describes the implementation of a pilot project to
assess the feasibility of training pharmacy technicians for ward-based
clinical roles
(PDF 90K)
Hospital Pharmacist
2003;10:9-10
(January 2003)
|
