SWMIT
South West Medicines Information
for healthcare professionals
for healthcare professionals
Most hospital Trusts in the South West provide training placements for preregistration trainee pharmacy technicians. A leaflet is available with details of the Training Scheme for Hospital Pharmacy Technicians pdf (Updated October 2015).
To become a registered pharmacy technician, candidates undergo a two year training programme. This consists of work-related training and assessment in order to achieve a Level 3 NVQ Diploma in Pharmacy Service skills, and a taught course - BTEC Diploma in Pharmaceutical Science to cover the underpinning knowledge requirement, provided on a block release basis at Somerset College.
Normally 4 GCSE passes (grade C or above) or equivalent qualifications are required. However, other entry qualifications may be acceptable for mature students and students with previous pharmacy experience.
Students must demonstrate competence in fourteen core units and three optional units to obtain the full NVQ. Individual units can also be completed to top-up existing qualifications.
| Unit 301 | Provide an effective and responsive pharmacy service |
| Unit 302 | Process pharmaceutical queries |
| Unit 202 | Ensure your own actions reduce the risks to health and safety. |
| Unit 304 | Reflect on and develop your practice |
| Unit 305 | Receive prescriptions from individuals |
| Unit 306 | Confirm prescription validity |
| Unit 307 | Assemble prescribed items |
| Unit 308 | Issue prescribed items |
| Unit 309 | Prepare extemporaneous medicines for individual use |
| Unit 310 | Order pharmaceutical stock |
| Unit 311 | Receive pharmaceutical stock |
| Unit 312 | Maintain pharmaceutical stock |
| Unit 313 | Issue pharmaceutical stock |
| Unit 314 | Undertake an in-process accuracy check of assembled prescribed items prior to the final check |
| Optional Units: | |
| Unit 317 | Manufacture and assembly of medicinal products |
| Unit 318 | Prepare aseptic products and carry out in-process checking |
| Unit 319 | Prepare documentation, materials and other items for manufacture and assembly of medicinal products |
| Unit 213 | Prepare documentation, materials, components and other items for the preparation of aseptic products |
| Unit 321 | Check documentation, starting materials, components and other consumables for the production of aseptic products |
| Unit 203 | Contribute to the effectiveness of teams |
A regional training manual is provided for each student. Students are assessed in the workplace by trained NVQ assessors, and regional internal quality assurers visit the centres to verify the quality of the assessment process. Documentation for conducting NVQ work-based assessments has been prepared for all students and assessors to use.
Year 1 Block Release Dates:
| Autumn Term | w/c 16 October 2017 | & | w/c 20 November 2017 |
| Spring Term | w/c 5 February 2018 | & | w/c 12 March 2018 |
| Summer Term | w/c 21 May 2018 | & | w/c 18 June 2018 |
Year 2 Block Release Dates:
| Autumn Term | w/c 25 September 2017 | & | w/c 6 November 2017 |
| Spring Term | w/c 15 January 2018 | & | w/c 26 February 2018 |
| Summer Term | w/c 23 April 2018 | & | w/c 4 June 2018 |
NVQ Level 3