It was many years ago that I spoke at a national debate on behalf of a motion to allow registration of pharmacy technicians. It is, therefore, with great pleasure that I join other voices to celebrate ten years of registration for pharmacy technicians and the part that Buttercups has played to support their career development.

Vanessa Kingsbury, founder and CEO of Buttercups Training

July 2021 marks the ten-year anniversary of pharmacy technicians being on the GPhC professional register, and what a ten years it has been.

As part of delivering apprenticeship funded programmes, training providers are subject to Ofsted inspection as schools and colleges are. In March 2021, Buttercups received an Ofsted monitoring visit.

The last year has been an incredibly difficult year apprentices working in pharmacy, and yet pharmacy and apprentices across the country have pulled together and delivered outstanding support to patients, colleagues and their wider communities. Apprentices have shown great resilience and dedication, offering their time and ever-growing expertise to support the COVID response wherever they can, and in doing so shown that the future is in safe hands. Pharmacy apprentices working in the NHS, community and general practice are helping to #BuildTheFuture.

We are receiving a large number of enquiries about vaccination training for individuals hoping to administer the new Covid-19 vaccines. As guidance is being updated and developed frequently, please ensure that you access the most up to date information available.

Over the last few months there has been much discussion over the provision for pharmacy technicians to join the current healthcare professional workforce in administering Covid-19 and flu vaccines. The government consultation has been running over the last month and we expect the outcomes by the end of October 2020.