Advisory Bulletin: Accuracy Checking – Responsibility, Training, and Employer Expectations

Accuracy checking is a critical patient safety function within pharmacy practice. It is important for both Organisations and staff to understand that accuracy checking is not a regulated profession or protected role in its own right, but a delegated responsibility within the pharmacy team.

Accuracy Checking as a Delegated Responsibility

The final accuracy check of dispensed medicines remains the responsibility of the supervising pharmacist, who may delegate this task to suitably trained staff following a clinical check. Delegation does not remove accountability from the pharmacist; rather, it relies on assurance that the individual undertaking the check is competent, supported, and working within agreed SOPs.

Accuracy checking should therefore be viewed as a skill, not a statutory qualification.

(Point to note – the supervision by a pharmacist of the preparation, assembly, dispensing and sale and supply of medicines is planned to change at the end of 2026 so this guidance should be read based on current legislation while we await guidance on the new arrangements for pharmacy technicians to be able to supervise under the Medicines Act 1968, Section 10 and 10A and Human Medicines Regulations 2012, Regulation 220A.)

Training and Reassurance of Competence

There is no single, regulated training pathway for accuracy checking. However, recognised training courses such as ACDA and ACPT provide reassurance to organisations that an individual has been trained and assessed against an agreed framework, evidence that a pharmacy technician or dispensing assistant has demonstrated competence in accuracy checking, and greater consistency and confidence within the pharmacy team.

Completion of a training course does not automatically grant universal authority to accuracy check in all settings. Instead, it supports an employer’s decision to delegate the task.

Organisations will be responsible for monitoring the accuracy of its’ ACDA’s and ACPT’s as part of risk management. It is ACDA’s and ACPT’s responsibility is to ensure that they have evidence of their continued competency in accuracy checking from the issue date on their certificate.

Professional Accountability and Scope of Practice

ACPT (Accuracy Checking Pharmacy Technicians)

ACPTs are registered pharmacy technicians and therefore registrants in their own right. As such, they hold a personal professional responsibility to practice within their scope of competence and training, maintain and update their knowledge and skills, recognise and declare limitations in unfamiliar settings, and comply with professional standards, CPD requirements, and fitness-to-practise obligations.

While organisations still determine how the role is deployed locally, ACPTs are expected to take individual responsibility for ensuring they remain competent to safely perform final accuracy checks in any setting in which they work. All ACPT’s trained with Buttercups are given access to our ACPT revalidation toolkit to support them to keep evidence of their checking practice should their employer or the regulator wish to see it.

ACDA (Accuracy Checking for Dispensing Assistants)

The ACDA course is for experienced Level 2 Dispensing Assistants who are not registrants in their own right. Accountability for their practice therefore sits primarily with the employer and the supervising pharmacist, who must ensure that the individual is competent for the specific tasks delegated, that training aligns with local SOPs and item lists, and that ongoing supervision and governance arrangements are in place. Because ACDA roles are highly employer- and process-specific, revalidation, reassessment, and competency checks are commonly required when moving between organisations. New organisations may reasonably request additional training or local sign-off before permitting accuracy checking duties. Buttercups ACDA’s certificates have a two-year expiry date from the point of issue. ACDA’s then need to revalidate their qualification using the ACDA revalidation toolkit included as part of their course and submitted to Buttercups prior to their certificate expiring.

Employer Discretion and Local Governance

Different organisations may set different thresholds for acceptable training, decide how and when trained staff are utilised, and restrict or expand scope based on service type, risk profile, and governance arrangements.

As a result, holding an accuracy checking qualification (ACPT or ACDA) does not guarantee identical duties across all workplaces.

When staff change employer, it is normal and appropriate for the new organisation to require local induction and SOP training, review of prior accuracy checking experience, and competency reassessment or refresher training if necessary. This is particularly common for ACDA-trained staff, where accountability sits with the employer and where variation in processes, supervision models, and permitted items is significant.

What happens when an ACDA then qualifies as a Pharmacy Technician?

This means they will be a pharmacy technician with an ACDA qualification. While it is important to note that this does not automatically ‘upgrade’ their ACDA to an ACPT qualification because they are different programmes, it does show that the pharmacy technician already has accuracy checking skills. The question now sits with the employer in deciding their scope of practice, for example now they are a pharmacy technician they may widen their scope to cover high risk medicines as they will have gained additional understanding on the risks of these medicines as these are part of their technician training.

Organisations who have pharmacy technicians with an ACDA qualification, no longer need to request their ACDA revalidation every 2 years, as they are now pharmacy technicians responsible for their own professional competence.

Key Messages for Accuracy Checkers and Organisations

• Accuracy checking is delegated, not automatic
• Training provides assurance, not entitlement
• ACPTs hold individual professional accountability for their practice
• ACDA practice relies on employer governance and supervision. Reassessment when moving roles is normal, proportionate, and appropriate
• Clear communication, robust SOPs, and documented competency remain essential to the safe delegation of accuracy checking duties