An Appreciation for Hospital Pharmacy Technicians

I first heard about the importance of pharmacy technicians in hospitals years before I ever stepped foot into one myself. At the time, I was still working in community pharmacy, where the extent of my exposure to hospital pharmacy was a handful of clinical tutorials whilst studying MPharm at Manchester.

One of the most talented, intelligent, and hard-working people I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with left community pharmacy to become a pharmacy technician at Wythenshawe Hospital.

For years, she tried to convince me to make the jump too. I didn’t quite get it then, but I do now.

It wasn’t until I started at Bolton Hospital and became part of the hospital pharmacy team, that I truly understood the critical role pharmacy technicians play in medicines management and overall patient care. They’re not just helpful, they are absolutely essential.

Some of the pharmacy technicians I’ve worked with have clinical skills and knowledge that surpass pharmacists I know. There’s one technician in particular, working in critical care, who is completing an advanced qualification. When she performs a medicines reconciliation, she doesn’t just take a drug history, she goes much further, calculating creatinine clearance and highlighting reasons for medication discrepancies on clerking. It is genuinely impressive.

The scope of responsibility that pharmacy technicians hold in hospital settings is huge. They handle medicines reconciliation, accuracy checking, controlled drug management, procurement, stock control, training of junior staff, and more. In community pharmacy, pharmacists spend the majority of their time accuracy checking prescription baskets, a task which, in hospitals, is almost entirely managed by pharmacy technicians. That alone highlights just how central they are to the safe and efficient running of the department.

Then there’s the technical and digital side. Our pharmacy IT systems are managed by a senior pharmacy technician, who also sits on the senior leadership team and oversees not just systems but the entire pharmacy stores operation and a significant portion of the wider pharmacy support staff. Her level of experience and influence can’t be overstated.

And of course, I can’t forget our two brilliant EPMA technicians. One has a degree in computer science, so is invaluable when it comes to technical configuration, system integration, and specialist back-end work, with fantastic SQL skills too. The other has a forensic eye for detail and can map out complex processes in a way that’s both thorough and forward-thinking. Between them, they make up the backbone of our EPMA operations and I genuinely don’t know how we’d manage without them.

Just today, in the middle of our electronic cabinets rollout, watching a few of the senior technicians managing the deployment, ensuring everything runs smoothly, supporting our nurses, was ridiculously impressive.

Career prospects for hospital pharmacy technicians are also growing rapidly. With opportunities to pursue advanced practice roles, take on management responsibilities, or move into areas like digital health and education. It is a career path full of potential. The role is evolving, and with it comes more recognition, more responsibility, and more opportunities for progression.

Personally, I couldn’t do my job without the incredible pharmacy technicians I work with. In the senior management team, the EPMA team, and most importantly, out on the wards. They do so much for hospital pharmacy, and I certainly appreciate it. I know my colleagues do too.