Behind the Badge – celebrating south east London’s pharmacy technicians
World Pharmacy Technician Day, 20 October
World Pharmacy Technician Day takes place on Tuesday 20 October. This year, we’re celebrating pharmacy technicians across south east London and the wide range of roles they carry out every day.
Pharmacy technicians are a vital part of the pharmacy workforce. They work across health and care services, helping people get the most from their medicines and supporting their safe and effective use.
Across south east London, pharmacy technicians work in hospitals, GP practices, community services, research and many other settings. Their work is varied, from patient care and medicines optimisation to medicines safety, governance and clinical trials.
Going Behind the Badge
To celebrate World Pharmacy Technician Day, we launched Behind the Badge: Meet South East London’s Pharmacy Technicians.
We invited pharmacy technicians from across south east London to tell us about their work. We asked what their role involves, what a typical day looks like, what they enjoy most about their job and what makes them proud to be a pharmacy technician.
Behind the Badge celebrates the people behind the profession and shows just how varied pharmacy technician roles can be.
The stories shared with us feature pharmacy technicians working in different roles and settings. They highlight the knowledge, skills and commitment pharmacy technicians bring to their work and the contribution they make to patient care.
Below are just two of the pharmacy technicians who shared their stories with us.
Liz, Senior Pharmacy Technician — primary care network
“I work as a Pharmacy Technician across three GP practices within Cray primary care network, enjoying the variety that comes with supporting different practices and patients. My role includes medication monitoring and reconciliation, safety audits, reducing medicines waste and supporting patients through clinical consultations, particularly around hypertension. What I enjoy most is the patient interaction and helping people feel supported with their medicines and health. Having lived and worked locally for more than 30 years, I’m particularly proud to use my professional experience and knowledge of the community to make a difference to patients.”
Jeanette, Clinical Pharmacy Technician — palliative and end-of-life care
“I work as a Pharmacy Technician specialising in Palliative and End-of-Life Care within a hospice, supporting the safe and effective use of medicines and helping patients maintain the best possible quality of life. My varied role includes medicines management, medicines reconciliation, supporting deprescribing and working closely with the multidisciplinary team. I also support patients and their families with medicines and complex treatment regimens.
Being a hospice Pharmacy Technician is both a professional responsibility and a privilege. I value being able to combine my clinical knowledge with compassion and empathy, supporting patients and their families at an incredibly important time in their lives.”
This World Pharmacy Technician Day, we want to say thank you to pharmacy technicians across south east London for everything they do and for the knowledge, skills and commitment they bring to their roles every day.