THE ASSOCIATION OF PHARMACY TECHNICIANS UK Annual Report 2020-2021 June 2021 2020/21 Highlights Supporting pharmacy technicians through the pandemic APTUK attended key strategic meetings to effectively represent pharmacy technicians, ensuring that the profession was recognised and valued for their contributions. Notably the inclusion of pharmacy technicians as key workers, enabling childcare provision, testing, PPE and immunisation access. APTUK worked with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to produce guidance with scenarios on ethical, professional decision-making in the COVID-19 pandemic. APTUK supported professional guidance to help the healthcare system and profession navigate the roles pharmacy technicians could contribute to the vaccine programme across the UK. A special COVID-19 bumper 36-page edition of the PTJ was published and circulated to members. Driving professional development opportunities In 2020 we delivered the National Competency Framework (NCF) for Primary Care Pharmacy Technicians with the Primary Care Pharmacy Association and Royal College of General Practitioners. APTUK have been instrumental in driving change following the 2017 Initial Education and Training Standards and National Occupational Standards including: • Updates to the national framework for Final Accuracy Checking of Dispensed Medicines and Products. • Support for pre-registration trainee pharmacy technicians through guidance, with patient and PTPT safety at its core. Embracing equality and diversity APTUK co-chaired, along with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) and NHS England and Improvement (NHSE/I), a national roundtable on Inclusive Pharmacy Professional Practice (IPPP). Purpose is ’to work collaboratively to develop and embed inclusive pharmacy professional practice into everyday care for patients and members of the public, to support the prevention of ill-health and address health inequalities within our diverse communities’. Work is currently ongoing in this area which is a key focus for 2021. APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 2 Staying connected and sharing best practice APTUK introduced a series of webinars covering a range of topics including: The pharmacy technician role and experiences in the Nightingale Hospitals; Launch of the Primary Care Pharmacy Technician National Competency Framework; Wellbeing; Focus on inclusivity; and Education and registration during the pandemic. A new website was developed, supporting mobile device viewing, which makes up more than 60% of the visits to our website. An APTUK app is in development. 6 new branches were launched, including a national virtual branch, in recognition of member needs during the pandemic lockdown. This increased access to our members and fuelled social and networking opportunities. APTUK social media followers increased to: • 2976 on Facebook • 4284 on Twitter • 121 on Instagram • 608 on LinkedIn Significantly growing APTUK membership Membership increased steadily throughout the year, exceeding 2000 members for the first time in November 2020. Driving sustainability and efficiency through operational improvements A drive for sustainability and efficiency resulted in recruiting for a new, streamlined executive structure which will be operational from 1st July 2021. Professional Lead posts were created to ensure full representation for each UK country. Celebrating our profession We celebrated International Pharmacy Technician Day, Career’s week, Apprenticeship week and Pharmacy 24. 1st July 2021 marks 10 years of registration of the pharmacy technician profession. APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 3 Contents 2020/21 Highlights ........................................................................................................................................ 2 Message from Liz Fidler, President APTUK ..................................................................................................... 5 1. Operations............................................................................................................................................. 7 1.1. Fit for purpose operating model ..................................................................................................... 7 1.2. Improving organisational sustainability .......................................................................................... 8 1.3. Contract reviews ............................................................................................................................ 8 1.4. Capturing our history ..................................................................................................................... 9 2. Digital .................................................................................................................................................... 9 2.1. Membership matters ..................................................................................................................... 9 2.2. Staying connected and sharing best practice .................................................................................. 9 3. Professional Development ................................................................................................................... 10 3.1. National frameworks and standards ............................................................................................. 10 3.2. Pre-registration Trainee Pharmacy Technicians (PTPTs) ................................................................ 11 3.3. Standards for the initial education and training of pharmacy technicians (IETs) ............................ 11 3.4. COVID-19 Preparedness ............................................................................................................... 12 3.5. Recognition as key workers .......................................................................................................... 12 3.6. Professional guidance for vaccine administration ......................................................................... 12 3.7. Ethical Decision Making ............................................................................................................... 12 4. Milestone Membership to celebrate .................................................................................................... 12 5. Bringing the UK into APTUK ................................................................................................................. 14 5.1. Northern Ireland (NI) ................................................................................................................... 14 5.2. Wales........................................................................................................................................... 14 5.3. Scotland ....................................................................................................................................... 15 5.4. England ........................................................................................................................................ 15 5.5. UK wide representation ............................................................................................................... 16 6. Business Development and Sponsorship .............................................................................................. 16 7. Pharmacy Technician Journal (PTJ)....................................................................................................... 16 8. Finance ................................................................................................................................................ 17 9. Growth and Modernisation of Branches .............................................................................................. 17 10. Representing our members ................................................................................................................. 18 10.1. Inclusive Pharmacy Professional Practice (IPPP)........................................................................ 18 10.2. Post registration education ...................................................................................................... 19 10.3. Foundation role analysis........................................................................................................... 19 10.4. Key stakeholders ...................................................................................................................... 19 11. Looking to the future ........................................................................................................................... 20 Appendix 1 - APTUK expenditure summary 2020/2021 ................................................................................ 21 Appendix 2 - APTUK Finance update 2019/2020 .......................................................................................... 22 APTUK Membership 2019-2020 ............................................................................................................... 22 Income 2019 - 2020 ................................................................................................................................. 23 Expenditure 2019 – 2020 ......................................................................................................................... 23 Appendix 3 – Board of Directors and Executive Committee biographies ...................................................... 24 Message from Liz Fidler, President APTUK As we move to 10 years as a registered profession in England, Wales and Scotland, with future registration plans for Northern Ireland, I thought it would be timely to share with members and stakeholders an update on the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK) plans as we begin to focus on the sustainability and future growth of the pharmacy technician profession. I also want to celebrate the key achievements during this past extraordinary year. Reflection This last year has provided us all with the opportunity to refocus priorities and learn from new ways of working, I am immensely proud of how the pharmacy technician profession, working as part of wider teams, demonstrated the role they can contribute as registered healthcare professionals. It is hugely motivating to see the profession being valued and offers for APTUK to provide professional advice and expertise are in welcomed demand. Examples of roles were celebrated on International Pharmacy Technician Day in October 2020. When I took up post in February 2019, I pledged to support APTUK with becoming more sustainable and to seek opportunities for paid posts to relieve some of the pressure on running an organisation (registered with Companies House) and delivering for our members and the profession. Providing leadership in a pandemic You may be aware in April 2020, The Board of APTUK made the difficult decision to pause business, so that our voluntary board could put all their expertise and capacity into their substantive pharmacy technician roles. This felt the right thing to do at the start of the pandemic. However, this decision was overturned within 2 weeks, as I along with 3 other Board members recognised the need for a strong professional representation. Running a professional leadership body in addition to substantive posts has been difficult. But I am proud of how APTUK has thrived during this time. I would like to share with you the key achievements we delivered during this time. Alongside providing professional representation and supporting an increase in membership, the Board have been moving towards a more sustainable operating model. This is to support productivity and the health and wellbeing of the handful of volunteers. Initially we began discussions with other organisations exploring integration options. These were not feasible and so we have focused our energy on maintaining independence. Future Recognising how far APTUK has come and what we have delivered in the last year, meant that we have made some bold decisions about our future. We have reset our strategic priorities and developed a business model to grow our membership offer and finance. We increased fees to £60 per year in May and are introducing instalment payments. We are working on a digital App, updating our website and offering a platform to record revalidation records directly with the GPhC all to support a better member experience. We have continued free membership for pre-registration trainee pharmacy technicians and offer 6 months free when they choose to become full members. We have developed support materials and virtual branch networks to aid professional development. We will focus our offer to those joining the profession as conversion from pre-registration to full member will ensure we can deliver more. APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 5 The increase in fees will fund our digital work and have enabled us to recruit an Operations Lead who will manage the business aspects of running a company. This will reduce pressure on many of the Board members, who can focus on delivering more for our members. We will be moving to a new executive committee on 1st July 2021, which will build in capacity and support leadership development for the pharmacy technician leaders of the future. The transition from operational to strategic leadership roles remains a priority for the profession. This model also allows for more flexible and project-based working. This will enable pharmacy technicians to lead specific projects without having to commit vast amounts of time. This was a hugely successful model during the pandemic as we delivered the National Competency Framework for Primary Care Pharmacy Technicians with the Primary Care Pharmacy Association and Royal College of General Practitioners. UK professional leads In addition to membership growth strategies and modernising the operating model, we have created three Professional Lead posts, one for each UK devolved country, to sit as members of the executive committee. This is to ensure that we are truly UK representative and to provide professional advice and expertise on national policy. It is also to provide strategic leadership working within the base country. One of the key learning points from the pandemic is the success of having multi-professional teams to advise on the roles that can be contributed. It is a long-standing strategic goal to see pharmacy technician professional representation at all key strategic Pharmacy Boards and decision-making forums. This will support the profession to be empowered and recognised and for policy to be influenced and implemented. The introduction of virtual national branches will also ensure member connectivity and opportunities to support APTUK to be truly representative. Professional development and representation of the profession I am proud of the contributions of APTUK in leading the development of professional standards and working with key stakeholders to ensure they are fit for purpose. Education is a key priority and work undertaken to support new and enhanced roles is critical to ensure the profession can continue to thrive. The Initial Education and Training standards provide a strong base for our future roles and APTUK will remain committed to supporting understanding and implementation. We also recognise the need for robust post registration education and career pathways, with an immediate focus on existing workforce. We will work across the UK to ensure the potential of the 2017 Initial Education Training Standards is realised and post registration education is an enabler to build on core skills and knowledge for the benefit of patient care and services. I am delighted that our new executive committee will reflect the work we need to undertake for members and the profession. We will be sharing and consulting on our strategic direction and priorities for 2021-2026 in coming months. Thank you for your commitment, its truly encouraging to see the profession and APTUK, as your professional leadership body, go from strength to strength, a true reflection of how far the profession has come and an indicator of the exciting future pharmacy technicians will have. Liz Fidler FAPharmT President Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 6 1. Operations 1.1. Fit for purpose operating model Although travel has been restricted, the introduction of Zoom in 2020 enabled the Board of Directors to meet more regularly in a streamlined way, which helped us to retain focus on the needs of our members in the rapidly changing environment. This also extended to the general meeting with special resolution which was completed in January. As the board and professional committee members are volunteers and were understandably required to focus their energies on the response to the pandemic in their substantive roles, we needed to streamline our operating procedures. This has since led to the restructure of the team to a more efficient Board of Directors and Executive Committee structure. All job descriptions have been reviewed to ensure clarity in roles and responsibilities for the new and existing posts. A formal recruitment process was followed, starting with requests for expressions of interest from our members. The response was fantastic and a real reflection of the increasing recognition we have achieved for APTUK. Recruitment for the Member Observer post will commence after July 1st 2021 once the new team is fully operational. Figure 1: APTUK leadership structure APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 7 Figure 2: APTUK Director roles Figure 3: APTUK Executive Committee roles 1.2. Improving organisational sustainability One of the key objectives for this year was to improve organisational sustainability by employing additional operational and business support through a paid Operational Lead role in APTUK. Recruitment was facilitated by an external recruitment company to ensure we reached out to a wider pool of candidates with the required expertise. Vicky Hope joined us in March 2021 and brings with her extensive business operations experience and is already having a positive impact on the organisation. As this was our first contracted post, we developed a legally binding employment contract which will also be used as a template for future positions as APTUK grows and creates the opportunity for further employed posts. 1.3. Contract reviews As part of our review of operational practices, we have been relooking at our office and storage contracts. We currently have a virtual office with Regus which helps us fulfil requirements for Companies House. The contract is currently being renegotiated to meet our evolving needs and we are anticipating savings in this APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 8 area going forwards. We also plan to review our contract with Big Yellow storage company now that much of our documentation is received and stored electronically. 1.4. Capturing our history The 1st July 2021 marks 10 years of registration of the profession, and we will be taking the opportunity to catalogue all APTUK memorabilia which has collected over the 69 years since our inception. We are hoping this will also lead to more visibility and safer storage of the more interesting items, but more news on this will be shared as soon as available. 2. Digital 2.1. Membership matters A key focus for digital this year has been updating the website. This has required extensive redevelopment to streamline our membership categories, provide improved access to information, direct links with the GPhC and the creation of a new wellbeing hub. Development work for the introduction of new membership fee payment plans is well underway and will be launched shortly. Improved access to pharmacy frameworks will also be introduced later this year. The new website supports viewing on a mobile device, which makes up more than 60% of the visits to our website. Future plans also include the launch of the APTUK App. With the change in working environment, it has been essential that we adapt our ways of working and embrace digital technology in a similar way to many businesses around the world. Microsoft 365 and Teams have been central to our day-to-day communication, and Zoom has been a key tool for Board of Director meetings, webinars, and the establishment of our virtual branch network. Although investment in digital and IT has increased this year it has been offset by a reduction in travel expenses for face-to-face meetings. Going forwards, it is likely that we will limit our face-to-face interaction to key meetings and continue with the digital solutions that we have all embraced for day-to-day communication. The results from the membership survey from 2019, have influenced much of our operational activity this year. Feedback included requests for: • improvements to our website • better email communication to members • increased social media activity • improved membership representation at the board • further work on the branch’s offer • review of fee structures We are pleased to report that all these areas have been addressed and solutions driven by the feedback received. Furthermore, the board committed to investigating ways to improve member involvement and as part of this, are currently seeking to engage a member observer to sit on the Executive Committee. 2.2. Staying connected and sharing best practice We introduced a series of webinars this year, covering a range of topics including: • The pharmacy technician role and experiences in the Nightingale Hospitals APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 9 • Launch of the Primary Care Pharmacy Technician National Competency Framework • Silence is not an option - a focus on inclusivity • Wellbeing – a focus on keeping our selves well during the pandemic • Webinar to focus on education and registration during the pandemic (Panel of General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), Health Education Improvement Wales (HEIW), Health Education England (HEE), NHS Education for Scotland (NES)) Attendance was really positive, and this is a resource we are planning to continue to provide for any specific topics of interest to our members. The webinar technology has also been used to facilitate growth of our national virtual branch network, providing an additional communication channel to geographically diverse members. Email continues to be a key form of communication which is well received by members. Our team has been busy keeping our members up to date, sending out more than 3 emails a week on average, totalling 172 mailings throughout the year. Our social media activity has also continued to grow, with the team taking part in several social media activities including Pharmacy 24, Career’s week, Apprenticeship week and International pharmacy technician day. Reports of these events have been sent out to members, but please visit our website if you would like more details of any of these activities. In addition, our PTJ editor has been very active on Twitter. As a result, our social media figures have increased to: • 2976 followers on Facebook • 4284 Twitter • 121 Instagram • 608 on LinkedIn 3. Professional Development Ensuring our members and the profession have access to professional development and guidance has been an essential part of our work during the last year. 3.1. National frameworks and standards National Competency Framework – Primary Care Pharmacy Technicians Development of the National Competency Framework (NCF) – Primary Care Pharmacy Technicians to provide UK wide standards is one of our proudest achievements. Thanks to Mary Carter (Primary Care Associate) who led this work with the Primary Care Pharmacy Association, the Royal College of General Practitioners, and other key stakeholders listed in the framework. The NCF is designed to support safe practice and professionalism in primary care, inform the education and training requirements, further the professional development of pharmacy technicians working in primary care, as well as provide national standards for education providers. The framework can be found on our website: https://www.aptuk.org/site/PCPT APTUK led a consultation to ensure the competencies within the framework were appropriate and that the framework was fit for purpose. Over 129 responses to the consultation were received and the team reviewed APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 10 225 individual comments and 5 organisational responses. The consultation strengthened the document and influenced changes to the draft framework including: • Improved focus on Multi-Disciplinary Team and system wide working • Inclusion of Digital Literacy to support remote working/consultations • Improved alignment of competencies/reduced duplication • Improved focus on supporting personalised healthcare • Inclusion of flexibility around supervision model • Additional narrative to support inclusion of some competencies that align with the GPhC IET Final Accuracy Checking of Dispensed Medicines and Products The national framework has been updated to reflect the 2017 Initial Education and Training Standards and National Occupational Standards. This is to support the education and competency assessment of current pharmacy technician workforce who will provide this role but have not registered with the 2017 IETs. Approval of education providers to provide a consistent approach to application of the national standards will be launched in 2021. This will support the profession, employers and patients with assurance of a standardised approach to this essential role. 3.2. Pre-registration Trainee Pharmacy Technicians (PTPTs) It was critical that APTUK supported the future pharmacy technician professional registrants, recognising that PTPTs were studying, being assessed, and providing frontline patient services. APTUK worked closely with the regulator to raise issues on behalf of our PTPT members, supporting the dissemination of a letter of support. Guidance on redeployment and roles that would be within scope of practice and competence for those undertaking education was developed early in the pandemic to reflect workforce and service needs with patient and PTPT safety at the centre of the guidance. APTUK remains committed to working with the regulator to support communications and guidance and seeks for a PTPT register to be held to enable this and other work. 3.3. Standards for the initial education and training of pharmacy technicians (IETs) 2020 saw the first cohorts of PTPTs begin their educational programmes which meet the 2017 IETs. The IETs have been modernised to reflect the professionalism and roles of a registered healthcare professional. The IETs are patient focussed and support education that reflect the NHS infrastructure and patient pathways in an integrated way. Supporting an increase in the placements available to train, rather than historically being secondary or community pharmacy focussed. Ensuring that the profession is fit for purpose and can capitalise on its transferable skills set in any healthcare setting. The transition of post course development of areas such as Final Accuracy Checking, Medicines Optimisation into the IETs means that the post registration landscape needs reviewing. It also means that work needs to be undertaken to support existing workforce with access to courses. In addition, discussions around scope of competence and practice during the pre-registration year need to happen, to provide public safety assurance and clarity on the roles undertaken. These are key priorities that APTUK will continue to work with key stakeholders on. APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 11 3.4. COVID-19 Preparedness APTUK refocused its strategic priorities in April 2020 to ensure the profession was appropriately represented at key strategic meetings. Attendance at meetings ensured that the profession was recognised as a healthcare profession in its own right. The skills and expertise especially around preparation of medicines led to the following work being coproduced with the Specialist Pharmacy Services - Pharmacy technician medicines administration operating framework. Recognising that some pharmacy technicians would want to return to the register APTUK produced Return to Practice guidance for pharmacy technicians formally accredited in medicines management or final accuracy checking, supporting with practice advice and standards to ensure services could be delivered safely. Thank you to all those that returned to the register to support during the pandemic. 3.5. Recognition as key workers APTUK ensured that experiences of pharmacy technicians and support staff who were working to provide patient focussed care during the pandemic were heard. Inclusion in the list of key workers was critical to ensure that service provision and patient care was not disrupted. Access to childcare, testing, death in service and vaccinations were all linked to being listed as a key worker, APTUK is proud to have worked with stakeholders to ensure that as key workers this was recognised and enabled. 3.6. Professional guidance for vaccine administration When the first vaccine was administered on 8th December 2020 the phrase – “where there is a vaccine there is a pharmacy technician” was born! Pharmacy technicians have been involved in every stage of the process from setting up vaccine hubs, procuring, storage, training other healthcare professionals and administering the vaccine. APTUK supported professional guidance to help the healthcare system and profession navigate the roles pharmacy technicians could contribute across the UK. APTUK remains committed to leading the much-needed legislation change for inclusion as listed healthcare professionals able to administer and supply medicines and products under Patient Group Directions (More information on this later in report) as this will support the whole vaccination process by ensuring that a registered profession can obtain consent – the missing piece of the puzzle to support better skill mix and patient experience. 3.7. Ethical Decision Making During a pandemic ensuring that the profession was supported with decision making in difficult non textbook situations required guidance. APTUK worked with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to produce guidance with scenarios on ethical, professional decision-making in the COVID-19 pandemic. Full details can be found on our website: https://www.aptuk.org/news/guidance-on-ethical-professional-decision-making-in-the- covid-19-pandemic 4. Milestone Membership to celebrate This year membership numbers have gradually increased, passing the significant milestone of 2000 members at the end of November 2020. Although numbers reduced slightly in December as students moved away from APTUK, since then the upward trend has continued, ending our financial year with an amazing 2117 members. APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 12 Figure 4: Comparison of membership data May 2020 vs April 2021 We have seen student numbers increase to over 27% of members, largely due to the ease of the online student application form which has been very successful. It will continue to remain a clear objective to retain these members as they become newly qualified pharmacy technicians. For comparison when Lynn, the Membership Coordinator, first took on this position exactly 5 years ago, membership was roughly half of what it is today. Figure 5: Comparison of membership data 2017 vs 2021 To enable vital technology and infrastructure investment for the future of APTUK, equipping us for the next steps in a post-Covid world, it has been necessary to increase our membership fees. This was the first change to APTUK fees since 2016 and the increase from £48pa to £60pa came into effect on 1st May 2021. Our new systems have also meant that we can now introduce the option of payment by monthly instalments, a feature that we have received many requests from our members in the past. APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 13 5. Bringing the UK into APTUK 5.1. Northern Ireland (NI) APTUK was part of the project board that produced the Northern Ireland Pharmacy Workforce Review that was published in November 2020. This review was designed to inform Health and Social Care (HSC) workforce development needs in the pharmacy sector over the next 10 years focusing on the three main employed sectors; community, hospital and general practice pharmacy. For NI pharmacy technicians the recommendations from the report suggest that: • Pharmacy technicians should be encouraged to practice at the top of their skillset through appropriate pre- and post-registration training. • A career as a pharmacy technician should be promoted, particularly to school leavers. The HSC careers services should also be utilised as a means of promoting the pharmacy technician role. • to maximise the benefit of skill-mix, work should be urgently progressed to enable the registration and regulation of the pharmacy technician workforce in NI in step with the rest of the UK. The Pharmacy Futures NI campaign was launched simultaneously and was a landmark campaign designed to significantly bolster the profession in Northern Ireland by attracting pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy staff to come and work in NI. The campaign is led by Pharmacy Forum NI in partnership with the Department of Health and aims to address the significant gap in the availability of qualified pharmacy professionals in NI and fill 1100+ additional roles in the pharmacy sector in NI over the next five years, 600 of which will be roles for pharmacy technicians. To allow all this to happen Pharmacy Technician registration in NI is key and was a significant outcome of the review. Over the last year having now built a relationship between APTUK and Cathy Harrison (NI Chief Pharmaceutical Officer) we received a position statement that an action in the plan for implementation by September 2023 is to enable the registration and regulation and career development of the pharmacy technician workforce in NI in step with the rest of the UK. The Pharmacy Work Force Review, Technicians Report was also published to support the implementation of this as it will be necessary to bring forward changes to legislation, following the normal processes and go through a period of consultation with all organisations and work closely with the regulator, The Pharmaceutical Society of NI to progress this work. This is just the beginning of the journey for APTUK in NI. Going forward APTUK will represent pharmacy technicians on the new Northern Ireland All Pharmacy Advisory Group which will be carrying out the actions and recommendations from the pharmacy workforce review. 5.2. Wales In line with our strategy to be truly representative across the UK, we have been developing our strategic partnerships in Wales, including Pharmacy Delivering a Healthier Wales (P:DaHW), Welsh Pharmaceutical Advisory Committee and Health Education Innovation Wales (HEIW) APTUK have been an active member of the P:DaHW delivery board, which meets virtually on a monthly basis. Work on this board was initially delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, good progress has been made since meetings recommenced August 2020. P:DaHW sets out the vison of Pharmacy in Wales for 2030, which is centred around four themes: APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 14 • Enhancing Patient Experience • Developing the Pharmacy Workforce • Seamless Pharmaceutical Care • Innovation and Technology We also attended the Welsh Pharmaceutical Advisory Committee meeting in November 2020 with the date of the next meeting in 2021 to be confirmed. The Welsh Pharmaceutical Advisory Committee provide the strategic oversite for Pharmacy in Welsh Government. Following APTUK representation at a virtual meeting with HEIW in September 2020, Geraint Young was introduced to the HIEW Pharmacy Advisory Board in April 2021 as the new professional lead for Wales and will continue to represent APTUK at future board meetings. HEIW leads on education and training along with the development of the healthcare workforce. The key function of the Pharmacy Advisory Board is to consider the pharmacy workforce across Wales and provide intelligence and guidance to HIEW, education and workforce planning and strategic objectives. The 23rd June 2021 will see the first meeting of the new All Wales APTUK branch. The formation of the branch came about through demand from members, and following an initial meeting in April 2021, a committee was formed by Emily Guerin, Daf James, Beth Perry, Julie Mathieson and Geraint Young to get the branch up and running. APTUK continue to forge new network and strengthen existing relationships with key stakeholders within Wales. The future of the Pharmacy Technician profession is positive, driven by the work from P:DaHW, the formation of an all Wales Branch and the appointment of a professional lead for Wales, will support the delivery of APTUK strategic objective and continue the current momentum around the profession in Wales 5.3. Scotland APTUK have continued to represent the pharmacy technician profession at key stakeholder meetings within Scotland and ensured Scotland representation and engagement in relation to key pieces of work, developments and consultations including the NCF for Primary Care Pharmacy Technicians. However, with the former post of Scotland National Officer vacant, it has proved challenging to grow the APTUK support within Scotland that is required. As part of the strategy to ensure APTUK are truly UK representative, the creation of a Professional Lead post for Scotland, who will sit as a member of the executive committee, will ensure that we can provide professional advice and expertise on Scotland national policy. We recognise that there is already strong local pharmacy technician leadership and networks within Scotland, and it was important that the new strategy was cognisant and inclusive of networks already established. As a result, we have worked with the National Pharmacy Technician Group Scotland (NPTGS) to ensure strong links between the new APTUK Professional Lead for Scotland post and this group to provide strategic pharmacy technician leadership within Scotland. We are delighted to welcome Claire Steele, Secretary of NPTGS, into the new role of APTUK Scotland Professional Lead. Claire will commence in this role on 1st July 2021. 5.4. England Attendance at key stakeholder meetings during the pandemic was essential to ensure that the pharmacy technician profession was supported and realised. Meetings with employers, policy makers and commissioners APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 15 were attended on a weekly basis. Ensuring the profession was represented and opportunities sought to ensure appropriate governance, assurance and education could be provided to enable the profession to fulfil its potential during a healthcare crisis. This is evidenced in the Covid-19 preparedness section. Value and recognition for the profession has grown and APTUK is proud to have represented the profession to enable this. In addition, APTUK responded to consultations (responses available on website) and responded to requests at pace around skill mix and roles where redeployment was considered. Working with key partners on NHSE/I, and HEE. Notable APTUK has been working closely with HEE on their Pharmacy Technician and Support Staff Strategy, Foundation role analysis next steps and careers materials. We look forward to continuing this work, seeking opportunities to enable access to career and education pathways. 5.5. UK wide representation As a UK wide organisation, APTUK seeks to ensure that best practice models and policy is standardised across UK where appropriate. Seeking key policy and raising the profile of the profession to link with strategic plans has been a key priority. The pharmacy technician profession is transient and it’s essential that the role is recognised and where possible empowered to deliver best possible patient care. APTUK has worked tirelessly to provide case studies, lead conversations, and provide models to demonstrate the need for the profession to be recognised on the list of healthcare professionals able to administer and/or supply medicines and medicinal products under a patient group direction (PGD). It is critical this legislation change occurs to optimise the skill mix and provide patient services at scale. There is a healthcare workforce crisis and pharmacy technicians as a registered healthcare profession have the necessary underpinning education to contribute to more patient focussed services. Vaccine administration is one clear area that would benefit from PGD status. Pharmacy technicians are procuring, storing, suppling, educating other healthcare professionals and administering vaccines but are unable to consent patients! Adding an unnecessary supervision step by another Health Care Professional to a process is not helpful at this time. There are many other examples listed in case studies on our website. APTUK will continue to make the case for change and work with key stakeholders to ensure that the profession is not inhibited from fully utilising its knowledge and skills for patient benefit. 6. Business Development and Sponsorship This year has been challenging for business development, due to the unfortunate, but necessary cancellation of the APTUK 2020 and 2021 conferences. Pharmaceutical companies have also faced budgetary challenges as a result of the global pandemic. Despite this, our partnership with Pfizer has continued and a new one with Phoenix has started, with the Board supporting new ways of engaging pharma in a way that benefits our members. During this period, time has been spent on rationalising the other relationships we have with pharma companies. Support has also been provided in engaging with the pharmaceutical press through a monthly opinion piece in Training Matters, written by our president which is published and available to our members. We have also taken an opportunity for free advertising for APTUK in Training Matters. 7. Pharmacy Technician Journal (PTJ) Despite the challenging environment, we have published 2 focused PTJs this year. The first, a special COVID-19 edition was a 36-page bumper edition published August 2020 posted to almost 1500 members and available APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 16 digitally to all members, sharing updates from 7 national officers and a dozen articles relating to how pharmacy technicians responded to service needs during the initial stages of the pandemic. Submissions included some very personal stories around working in the Nightingale hospitals, different environments including Intensive Care Units and tributes to pharmacy technicians who sadly died during the pandemic. The second was a 24-page edition which was sent out in November 2020 to over 1500 members and made available digitally, included a range of articles around the topic of safety. Some had been submitted by medication safety officers, patient safety group, and even an article from an international perspective. The spring edition of the PTJ was published and circulated to members in May 2021. 8. Finance The implementation of the digital finance package QuickBooks in 2020 has been a major development for our financial efficiency, accuracy, and rigour. Rather than creating files of paper receipts and invoices, coupled with an extensive manual reconciliation process, we have automated our system, so it now links directly with the bank account and provides instant access for our accountant. Going forward the system will also provide a useful tool for more accurate budgeting and business planning, providing an essential and solid foundation for future business growth. As a result of the imposed travel restrictions, face to face meetings in 2020 were significantly reduced. Whilst there was a consequential requirement for increased investment in IT costs, the overall impact has meant that we have had a greater budget to invest in other areas which included the improved website, and recruitment of the Operations Lead who joined APTUK in March 2021. A top line split of spend is provided in the appendix, but please note that these figures are yet to be finalised in our end of year company accounts. The 2019/2020 end of year accounts were submitted on time, ensuring we remain compliant with Companies House regulations. A summary of the finances can be found in Appendix 2: APTUK Finance update 2019/2020 9. Growth and Modernisation of Branches In November 2020, our Branch Handbook was reviewed and published. The process for managing branches was simplified. We moved from a requirement to write and submit minutes and reports to use of MS forms and centralised branch funding to remove the need for branch bank accounts and treasurers, therefore reducing the administrative burden. Clear processes were also developed to help branches support ongoing virtual meetings following positive feedback from members. As a result, we have successfully established 6 new branches, increasing access to our members, and fuelling social and networking opportunities. APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 17 Figure 6: APTUK branch network To support the branch activity, we also ran 3 national branch meetings providing centralised resources for the branches to tap into. Branch pages on the website have also been updated to provide current information to members about their local branch and how to take part. 10. Representing our members 10.1. Inclusive Pharmacy Professional Practice (IPPP) In the summer of 2020, APTUK were invited to co-chair, along with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) and NHS England and Improvement (NHSE/I), a national roundtable on Inclusive Pharmacy Professional Practice (IPPP). The aim of this group is ’to work collaboratively to develop and embed inclusive pharmacy professional practice into everyday care for patients and members of the public, to support the prevention of ill-health and address health inequalities within our diverse communities’. Key references for the roundtable were the two Public Health England (PHE) reports on the COVID-19 epidemic: Disparities in the risk and outcomes of COVID-19, and Beyond the data: Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on BAME groups. Since the initial roundtable event on 5th August 2020, the group have met fortnightly. Following the launch of the Joint Statement of Principles, they worked on the development of a Joint National Plan for Inclusive Pharmacy Practice in England. This was launched on the 10th March 2021 and identified immediate and minimum actions required by all partners. As part of this programme of work, APTUK worked with the Right Honourable Stuart Lawrence, the younger brother of Stephen Lawrence to deliver a 1-hour webinar for APTUK members on privilege, BAME-boxes and non-conscious bias. Stuart has continued to co-mentor and assist the APTUK board in understanding the challenges faced. We have also created specific equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) area on our website and included an EDI section in the spring edition of the PTJ which will be a regular feature going forwards. We are also inviting feedback from our members on EDI matters, and in May 2021 initiated an anonymous member survey to identify representation across the nine protected characteristics. Our newly recruited EDI Executive, Shamma Baig will lead this important area going forwards. APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 18 10.2. Post registration education The landscape for pharmacy technician post-registration education needs to recognise the introduction of the 2017 Initial Education and Training Standards (first cohorts will be registering 2022). APTUK has been working with the regulator, education, commissioning bodies and other key stakeholders to raise the need for education and career pathways to reflect the skills and knowledge of a registered healthcare profession. There is much work to do to ensure funding and access to robust recognised education pathways to enable the profession to fulfil its potential. APTUK has been represented across all UK countries presenting and working on key themes 10.3. Foundation role analysis APTUK working with Health Education England procured Work Psychology Group and Royal Pharmaceutical Society to develop a role analysis for foundation practice. Publication of an attributes framework which will underpin professional attributes and behaviours will be published in 2021. The work was conducted pre- pandemic and will be refreshed as a key priority for 2021/22. The APTUK framework will be modernised to reflect the roles undertaken now and in the future, and complement wider pharmacy workforce frameworks. It will be reflective of cross sector roles and underpin education pathways and career future work in light of the 2017 IETs. 10.4. Key stakeholders APTUK is proud to work with key organisations and will continue to grow its engagement and profile both with the pharmacy profession and wider. Invitations to attend events and meetings to represent the profession are key to ensure the profession is recognised. It is also key to ensure where possible access to education and other opportunities are inclusive of the pharmacy technician profession. APTUK attends regular meetings and has worked collaboratively with the following organisations: • Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education • Chief Pharmaceutical Officers Offices • Community Pharmacy Employers • Department of Health and Social Care • General Pharmaceutical Council • Health Education England • Health Education Improvement Wales • National Education Scotland • National Pharmacy Association • Northern Ireland All Pharmacy Advisory Group • NHS England and Improvement • Procurement and Distribution Interest Group • Royal Pharmaceutical Society APTUK have worked collaboratively on key projects with • Primary Care Pharmacy Association • Royal College of General Practitioners APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 19 11. Looking to the future We are now looking to the next stage of development for APTUK, starting with establishing our new Board of Directors and Executive Committee. An initial meeting has been planned for 28th June 2021 where we aim to lay the foundations for positive, agile Executive Committee team working from day one. We will also seek to establish and articulate a shared vision for APTUK’s future based on the successes achieved from our 2018- 2021 strategy. Over the following weeks we will set strategic goals and intentions, which will form a new strategic plan to take us through the next 3-5 years which we hope to launch in September 2021. With the growth in membership, and therefore funding, our intention is to be able to reimburse key roles and posts. This is a reflection of the significant time required from individuals to continue to deliver key projects to drive forward our profession and secure recognition for pharmacy technicians. To support this, we will be looking closely at our financial planning and forecasting to ensure we introduce this change at the right time. As part of our support for future leaders we are currently working with organisations to provide fellowship opportunities and are hoping to announce plans later in the year. As we move into our 70th year, we are delighted to celebrate our 10th anniversary of being a registered profession. APTUK will host a celebration event on July 1st 2021 where, with the help of the Chief Pharmaceutical Officers as guest speakers, we will reflect on the last 10 years and the development of our profession before looking to the future and offer predictions of potential opportunities to come. Our professional leads will provide local country perspectives and we will hear from pharmacy technicians in the community, primary care, technical services and hospital Medicines Optimisation roles to demonstrate the breadth and scope of the profession. Whilst face to face meetings were suspended in 2020, we are also looking forward to another APTUK conference to celebrate 70 years as a professional leadership body. Our conference has always been a highlight of the calendar which has been very much missed this year, and we are looking forward to sharing our extensive learning and meeting members once again in 2022. APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 20 Appendix 1 - APTUK expenditure summary 2020/2021 Income Membership Fees £71,768 Sponsorship / donations £4,236 Total income £76,004 APTUK revenue income 2020/2021 Expenditure Sponsorship Advertising/Promotional £2,208 IT costs £5,140 Dues and Subscriptions £230 Insurances £999 Office/General Administrative Expenses £7,923 Other Professional Services £16,427 Printing, Postage and Stationery £10,405 Digital / Website £21,516 Membership Fees Salaries £10,711 Total Expenditure £75,559 Net Operating Income £445 APTUK expenditure 2020/2021 Advertising/Promotional Dues and IT costs Subscriptions Salaries Insurances Office/General Administrative Expenses Digital / Website Other Professional Services Printing, Postage and Stationery APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 21 Appendix 2 - APTUK Finance update 2019/2020 APTUK Membership 2019-2020 Membership Categories Associate 19 Enrolled 2 Fellow 14 Associate FULL 1246 Enrolled Honorary 6 Fellow Retired Fellow 11 FULL Student 281 Honorary Retired Fellow Student APTUK Membership by Work Sector APR 2020 889 900 800 700 600 500 357 400 300 200 61 72 54 100 35 12 34 21 15 10 11 26 3 1 3 1 2 4 1 3 0 APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 22 Income 2019 - 2020 MAY 19- INCOME Apr 20 Membership £64,004 fees Grants £6,545 Membership fees (sponsors) Opening/closing Grants (sponsors) £1,000 stock Opening/closing stock Interest £58 Interest TOTAL £71,607 Expenditure 2019 – 2020 Depreciation in Assets £35,000 Accountancy – annual accounts & wages £30,000 Rent – virtual office, archive storage £25,000 Insurance – prof. indemnity – company/group £20,000 Wages – Membership Coordinator Axis Title £15,000 Subscriptions – office 365, licences £10,000 Printing, post, promo stock £5,000 Conference costs £0 Exec travel & admin expenses Amount Pension Depreciation of Assets Computer equipment in use by directors, badges and T-Shirts Accountancy Check of end of year accounts and submission to Companies House and HMRC. Monthly production of wage slips for paid employees Rent Virtual office for Companies House purposes, archive storage for mandatory retention of paperwork for audit and HMRC purposes Insurance Group liability insurance Subscriptions Microsoft Office 365, Website, Eazycollect membership payment collection software Printing, post, promo stock Includes T-Shirts, Badges, PT Journal, letters out to members, new member welcome packs, promotional stock for conferences Exec travel & admin expenses This includes hours worked over and above what would be expected of the board as normal voluntary hours, including work ensuring a PT voice on strategies such as COVID PGDs, COVID death insurance and other COVID related work. This was approved in April 2020 by the board as extraordinary work necessary for the PT profession as a whole. Pension Mandatory payment for any staff that are paid employees APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 23 Appendix 3 – Board of Directors and Executive Committee biographies Liz Fidler - President Liz has worked across various sectors of pharmacy and is a leader in driving forward pharmacy technician development. Liz has led the development of a new Pharmacy Technician qualification to meet the recently refreshed regulatory standards and chaired the working group review of the National Occupational Standards. Whilst Association Pharmacy Technician UK Education Officer, Liz led the development of the APTUK Foundation Pharmacy Technician Framework and resources. In her current role of Associate Dean – Quality for Health Education England working across Kent, Surrey and Sussex, she is responsible for quality management and enhancement and works in partnership with Heads of School, trainees, professional regulators, NHS England and NHS Improvement to ensure the clinical learning environment is a safe and effective place to undertake education. Previously Liz held the post of Health Education England (London and South East) Interim Pharmacy Dean and Associate Head of Pharmacy where she was responsible for leading and supporting pharmacy workforce development and education across the region. Liz received an Association of Pharmacy Technician UK Fellowship and won the APTUK/AAH Pharmacy Technician of the Year – Outstanding Contribution in 2017. Ellen Williams - Vice President Ellen is Vice President and a Fellow of the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK. Ellen is a passionate advocate for the pharmacy technician profession who champions the important role they play in the Medicines Optimisation and the wider healthcare agenda, raising the profile of the profession and ensuring the knowledge, skills and potential of this workforce are recognised and fully utilised across all sectors of pharmacy. Ellen has worked in many areas of pharmacy before going on to specialise in pharmacy education and training. Ellen has led on the development and delivery of post registration pharmacy accreditation programmes across the South and has been responsible for leading national steering groups in the development of frameworks including the NHS Pharmacy Education and Development Committee commissioned ‘National Framework for the Assessment of Medicines Management Skills’ and the Aseptic Services Accreditation Group ‘National Framework for the Assessment of Product Approval under section 10 exemption’. Ellen also co-chaired the development of a new qualification to meet the 2017 revised regulatory standards. Ellen is Director of Regional Pharmacy Training at Pharmacy Workforce Development South (PWDS), where she leads a team responsible for pharmacy workforce development, and the design and delivery of innovative pharmacy education and training programmes. APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 24 Gail Hall - Director of Digital Strategy Gail has been a pharmacy technician for over 30 years. Working initially within aseptic services in the NHS and then in education roles within an FE College, HM Prison Service and private training provider. A qualified assessor, internal and external verifier, teacher (QTLS) and with a Master of Education in information and communication technology Gail has always had an interest in education and development, and specifically the use of technology enhanced learning. She is currently completing a doctorate in clinical education at the University of Leeds, with a focus on the selection of peers in pharmacy practice and is passionate about post-registration development for pharmacy technicians. Employed as the Course Development Lead at Buttercups Training, Gail leads on the development of post-registration programmes for pharmacy technicians. Gail has been an active member of APTUK since 2004, involved in local branches and a Board member since 2017.Gail has a desire to continue to support the pharmacy technician profession through the professional leadership body. The Director of Digital Strategy post will enable Gail to investigate and apply the use of appropriate technology to support the executive committee and members as the profession moves forward, into a post-Covid world. Dafydd James - Membership Director Dafydd works as a Regional Lead Technician for the Renal Medicines Service in Southwest Wales where he has been instrumental in the digitisation of the service including implementation of electronic prescribing. APTUK recognised his work, and he was awarded the Digital Innovation Award in 2017. He is now working on making these services available for Wales. As a Membership Director Dafydd is looking forward to volunteering his time, knowledge and skills to lead on membership and engagement to take them to the next level. Amy Laflin - Director of Education Amy has worked in Pharmacy for 15 years and has had the pleasure of working in various pharmacy sectors in this time. Amy now works in academia where she is able to watch and support the next generation of Pharmacy staff including Pharmacy assistants, Pharmacy Technicians and Science manufacturing Technicians grow in their roles. Amy has a passion not only for education but also for supporting the professional membership body (APTUK) and so the role of Director for Education will enable her to embrace both areas as well as offer her time and commitment to the continual positive changes within pharmacy technician education and the profession. APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 25 Vicky Hope - Operations Lead Vicky’s background is founded on a business studies degree and throughout her career she has gained extensive commercial operational experience including customer/client service, process development and implementation, marketing and team leadership, primarily in service orientated businesses. For the last 10 years Vicky has been working in the healthcare arena, which has provided a keen interest in the rapidly changing patient care landscape Vicky works as the Operations Lead for APTUK, the purpose of which is to oversee the leadership and management of APTUKs professional business operations and to support the development and setting of the strategic direction, including key objectives, priorities, and goals. Lynn Ali - Membership Coordinator and Secretariat Lynn has worked as the Membership Coordinator for APTUK for the last 5 years, since taking early retirement. Lynn worked initially as a community Pharmacy Technician for a large multiple pharmacy chain, & later worked as the Area Pharmacy Administrator, covering 50 stores, with the same company, completing 38 years in total within community pharmacy. Lynn has been a career long supporter of APTUK – joining as a student member and was an early registrant with the GPhC 10 years ago. With the exciting changes to the leadership structure within APTUK & the significant investment in the website, to automate some of the manual tasks around membership, Lynn’s role is evolving. Going forwards Lynn will work as part of the newly formed Executive Committee, supporting it in a variety of ways, whilst still maintaining her focus on helping members with all queries around their membership payments & website access. Lynn is looking forward to the new way of working & interacting with as many members as possible. Warren Francis - Professional Lead, Northern Ireland Warren has worked in pharmacy for over 20 years, both in community and in hospital. He now specialises in Pharmacy ICT and robotics and works as a Senior Analyst for the encompass pharmacy build team, who are introducing a digital integrated care record across health and social care. This will replace many of the paper based or outdated technology systems used by all Trusts in Northern Ireland and is anticipated to transform the way people are cared for in the region. Warren began working as a volunteer for APTUK in 2019 as the NI National Officer, to help bring regulatory change to enable the same career opportunities as pharmacy technicians across the rest of the UK, as a result of being recognised as a registered profession. The foundations have been put in place that will now allow registration to become a reality in NI over the next few years and it is this potential that continues to motivate Warren in his new post as APTUK Professional Lead for Northern Ireland. APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 26 Geraint Young - Professional Lead, Wales Geraint is based in North Wales and works as a Senior Pharmacy Technician in a Primary Care Medicines Management team. He qualified as a Pharmacy Technician in 2008, and has since held various roles in Wales, with experience in Medicines Management, Technical Services, Community Pharmacy and Primary Care. Geraint became the APTUK Professional Lead for Wales in 2021. He has held the post of Interim Lead for Wales since 2020 and represents APTUK as a non- executive member of the delivery board for Pharmacy Delivering a Healthier Wales. Before this, he represented APTUK as a National Officer under the Frameworks work stream. Claire Steele - Professional Lead, Scotland Claire Steele has practiced as a pharmacy technician for 23 years and has enjoyed a varied career from community to hospital pharmacy across England and Scotland. She is currently the Pharmacy Operations Manager for the NHS Fife Acute Pharmacy Service, leading a 70+ strong team of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, pharmacy support workers and procurement officers to deliver pharmacy technical services across NHS Fife. Claire is a strong advocate for pharmacy technicians and pharmacy support staff and is honoured to be the Professional Secretary of the National Pharmacy Technician Group Scotland. As a pharmacy technician leader, she believes it is important to support the professional leadership body APTUK, ensuring pharmacy technicians and pharmacy support staff are represented at the highest level and that best practice and knowledge is shared across the United Kingdom. Kay Morgan - Editor Kay has worked as a pharmacy technician since leaving school, initially in hospital pharmacy. Since 2015 Kay’s role has been NHS Board wide, employed as Learning and Development Facilitator. This has provided opportunity to gain a wider understanding of pharmacy across all sectors. Kay is an advocate for staff development and was nominated by her colleagues for an APTUK Fellowship in 2018. Kay leads on the production of the Pharmacy Technicians Journal (PTJ), providing members with an authoritative and informative source of information. She brings to the role a logical thought process, along with her ability to work to SOPs, meet deadlines and an attention to detail. This includes working with various APTUK officers to share developments they are involved in, writing content, reviewing articles, as well as liaising with finance & business officer to ensure all PTJ processes are followed. Kay gets great job satisfaction from the initial planning through to the publication of each edition and gains pleasure encouraging and supporting pharmacy technicians to share their stories and good practice. She believes that the PTJ is a great format to share members views and connect with other pharmacy professionals. Kay is continually pleasantly surprised with the quality and range of pieces members submit. APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 27 Katherine Watkinson - Branch Liaison Executive Katherine began her career in hospital pharmacy before moving into mental health roles. She has worked in various roles at hospitals across England and is now based in the Midlands. Katherine currently has a portfolio career which includes working with Turning Point as their Acting Head of Medicines Management & Pharmacy, a very varied role which involves supporting the substance misuse, learning disability, mental health, and public health services. Katherine has also recently begun working with ProPharmace developing and delivering training programmes to pharmacy professionals. In addition, Katherine sits as part of the GPhC Investigating Committee as a registrant member. Katherine has been a member of APTUK since qualifying as a pharmacy technician and has always been committed to supporting the association. She was APTUK treasurer for 3 years before taking some time away from a formal national role to support her local branch and other professional commitments. She is passionate about the role of the professional leadership body in supporting the development of the profession and assisting members to develop their own careers. Katherine believes that the branches are the backbone of APTUK and vital to provide the support that members need; she is delighted to be able to develop and support the branches to make them accessible to all members. Oliver Jones - Business Development Executive Having worked in community pharmacy since a teenager, Oliver joined the register as a pharmacy technician in 2014. His career since then has led him into primary care, and more recently academia – working as an education supervisor at The Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education. Alongside the ‘day job’ Oliver has been volunteering for APTUK in a business development role. Oliver believes that it is important for a profession such as APTUK to have a strong professional leadership body and he is proud to give his time working to ensure APTUK is able to provide that leadership. Shamma Baig - Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead As APTUK approaches 10 years as a registered profession, Shamma is also approaching 10 years as a registered Pharmacy Technician. Shamma has a wealth of experience in secondary, primary and community pharmacy settings, including specialist experience in in medicines optimisation, cancer services and aseptic preparation. Currently she works in the primary care sector with work streams based on falls and frailty. Shamma has recently volunteered for the EDI Lead role. This is a new and innovative role within the organisation. Shamma hopes to facilitate and promote the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion throughout the pharmacy technician workforce across the UK. APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 28 Andrea Ashton - Social Media Executive Andrea began her pharmacy career in 1985 and has gained a wealth of experience in hospital pharmacy and regional roles, which include dispensary and supply services; ward-based medicines management services, aseptic, radiopharmacy and non-sterile manufacturing, clinical trials and education and training. Andrea is currently the Assistant Director of Pharmacy (Technical Services) at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Andrea has held a number of positions with APTUK (Director of Communications and Events National Officer) and is continuing in the role of Social Media Executive. Andrea is passionate about the profession and all that Pharmacy Technicians contribute to patient care and the pharmacy team. She is proud to be able to continue to support APTUK, promoting and communicating the work the professional leadership body do on behalf of pharmacy technicians and advocating their diverse and advancing role within the profession. APTUK. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company No: 08506500 Registered Office: One Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD – 0121 632 2025 29
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