The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) recently issued a public apology after they mistakenly referred to pharmacy technicians as 'pharmacist technicians'
in a council paper.
It has also written a letter of apology to the President of the Association of Pharmacy Technicians (APTUK) for the error they made.
Meanwhile, the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has raised concern about an equally worrying trend in which pharmacists are being referred to by the GPhC and
others as 'pharmacy professionals', a term that is also used for pharmacy technicians.
The association said this creates confusion in the minds of the public about the two roles and responsibilities, which are very different, as well as have impact
upon the workplace.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has published a consultation to review the 'Professional standards for the reporting, learning, sharing, taking action
and review of incidents error reporting' in collaboration with Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK and Pharmacy Forum of Northern Ireland.
The consultation is open from 21 April 2023 until 2 June 2023 and are due to be published in early 2024.
All three professional leadership bodies are calling for contributions from anyone using the standards to ensure they are clear, current, relevant and fit for
purpose.
"The review affects all pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, trainees and members of the pharmacy team working in all sectors across the UK," RPS said.
"The standards may also be of interest to the public, people who use pharmacy and healthcare services, healthcare and professionals working with pharmacy teams.