More on technicians

I felt I must respond to a post on one of my earlier blogs about working with checking technicians (see Learning to use skills)

The post was from Martin who has a recently qualified technician and is uncomfortable about the role since he is still responsible for any errors that leave the store.

I can understand this since community pharmacists have long been used to working on their own in dispensaries and so being in full control of the dispensing procedure.

But I have to say that after working as part of a team of very capable dispensary staff and checking technicians, that I wouldn’t want it any other way. The liability issues are difficult ones but as long as there are robust SOPs in place then all staff should be clear on their roles and limits.

I would now feel quite uncomfortable managing the dispensing process on my own since I have actually found that several pairs of eyes are better than one when it comes to assessing the script, assembling it and then checking it.

I have now even got to the stage that if I do find myself in a position where I have solely dispensed the script, that I get another member of the dispensary staff to cast an eye over it since I have gotton so used to team working.

It’s also been fantastic over the busy Xmas period to have the dispensing of regular repeat medication carry on in the background while I was pulled all over the place.