Level 2 Accuracy Checking for Dispensing Assistants revalidation

Course overview

When you complete the Accuracy Checking Dispensing Assistant (ACDA) course, you are issued with a certificate that must be renewed every two years. This demonstrates that you can continue to carry out final accuracy checks of dispensed medicines safely and precisely under supervision of a Responsible Pharmacist in a specific pharmacy environment. For settings that do not operate under supervision of a Responsible Pharmacist, we offer a non-GPhC-accredited version.

If the you move from one workplace to another in the same setting specified on your certificate, while the certificate will still be valid, you will be expected to complete a 200-item checking log in line with revalidation requirements to ensure you're safe to work in your new workplace with a different set of standard operating procedures (SOPs). 

The revalidation paperwork must be signed by a practice supervisor – who may be a pharmacist or an accuracy checking pharmacy technician (ACPT) – who works alongside you and is qualified to complete final accuracy checks in the same area. The practice supervisor must record their GPhC registration number on the paperwork. 

Buttercups Training offers an ACDA revalidation service for £36 (exc VAT), offering guidance through a structured process, with templates to record the relevant information. ACDAs are not GPhC registrants – they will be guided through a process that reflects the GPhC revalidation requirements for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in terms of continuing professional development (CPD) and peer discussions in relation to their accuracy checking role.

Our ACDA Revalidation Workbook contains monthly revalidation logs for 23 months. You will need to complete one log each month for submission in month 24, three weeks before your current ACDA certificate expires. The workbook can be downloaded below.

Revalidation Workbook – GPhC-accredited
Revalidation Workbook – non-GPhC-accredited

How to apply

To apply for revalidation of your ACDA certificate, you'll need to submit the following documents for the 24-month revalidation period:

• Monthly revalidation logs for each of the 23 months, which are signed and verified by the practice supervisor. Each monthly log covers the following details for each month:

  • The number of hours of checking that you have completed. You'll need to complete additional checking logs if you have checked for less than eight hours per month

  • The number of checking errors made, including a supplementary form to detail the error, and a corresponding unplanned CPD entry to reflect on each one

  • The titles of any CPD entries completed that month

  • Whether you've changed your work environment, or changed to work under a different SOP or setting. You'll need to complete a 200-item checking log if you have changed your work environment and SOP/setting

• Declaration that a minimum of eight CPD entries have been completed. Two of these should be planned learning and two should be unplanned learning

• A peer discussion relating to your checking role

• Additional checking portfolios that need to be completed due to a break in your role or a change in work environment

• A copy of your original ACDA certificate, including any previous revalidation/re-accreditation certificates issued since you received the original. If your certificate has already expired, you will have to complete additional checking logs, depending on how long it has expired for. All certificates need to be certified as genuine by the practice supervisor signing the application pack

If you were certified for an ACDA course that did not meet the GPhC IET (2020) requirements, a top-up Revalidation Witness Testimony must be completed by your practice supervisor to show that you can demonstrate the GPhC learning outcomes in the IET for levels 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 16 and 17. 

If you were certified on an ACDA course that meets the GPhC IET (2020) requirements, such as our Level 2 Support Staff Course for Dispensing Assistant (DA) or Healthcare Assistant Course (HCA), the Revalidation Witness Testimony is not required. 

After Buttercups has received the relevant paperwork, we will validate the evidence and issue an ACDA revalidation certificate valid for two years.