Changes to Pharmacy Technician Competencies Published
Last week, the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities published updated Professional Competencies for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians at Entry to Practice in Canada. You can find the new document and more information here:
Earlier this year, PTSA, in collaboration with the Canadian Association of Pharmacy Technicians (CAPT) and the Pharmacy Technician Society of British Columbia (PTSBC) provided feedback regarding proposed changes to compounding competencies. The position paper drafted in response to the consultation outlines the reasons for concern, including impact on patient care and the integrity of the pharmacy technician profession.
We are dissatisfied that the new competencies were published without any changes to the original proposal – pharmacy professionals must be able to compound non-sterile, non-hazardous products at entry-to-practice but only understand the general principles of sterile and hazardous compounding (competencies 1.7.2 to 1.7.4). These changes are the first step towards compounding being considered a specialty component of pharmacy practice, as opposed to the foundational core it actually is.
We have contacted NAPRA and the Alberta College of Pharmacy requesting rationale for the changes, and the PTSA Board will be considering next steps for additional advocacy efforts.
Now more than ever, it is important that pharmacy technicians present a strong, unified voice regarding changes that impact how we care for patients, even if you don’t compound in your current practice. We are Canada’s sterile compounding experts!
Do you work with pharmacy technicians who are not yet members of PTSA? Encourage them to apply today. The voice of all pharmacy technicians joined together will be hard to ignore.
Share your thoughts about the new competencies in the comments section below.