Pharmacy technician role to expand from January

Pharmacists will be able to authorise pharmacy technicians to hand out checked and bagged prescriptions, when pharmacists are ‘absent or treated as absent’, from 7 January 2026, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has announced.

This new legislation forms part of the government’s plan to modernise pharmacy supervision rules, which the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) published draft legislation for in July.

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It aims to ‘enable pharmacists to deliver more patient-facing clinical services’ and maximise the contribution of pharmacy technicians to patient care.

At its meeting on 11 December 2025, the GPhC Council also agreed to begin a public consultation on the supporting standards for Superintendent Pharmacists and Responsible Pharmacists, and rules for Responsible Pharmacists.

This consultation will start when some final changes have been made to the current drafts.

The remaining provisions will come into effect from 10 December 2026 once the GPhC, Pharmaceutical Society NI and professional leadership bodies have published supporting professional standards and guidance.

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This includes:

• Allowing pharmacists to authorise a pharmacy technician to undertake or supervise the preparation, assembly, dispensing and sale and supply of medicines, that would otherwise need to be performed by or under the supervision of a pharmacist;
• Allowing pharmacy technicians to take primary responsibility for the preparation and assembly of medicinal products in hospital aseptic facilities.

Chief standards officer at the GPhC, Lynsey Cleland, said: ‘We will shortly be launching a public consultation on the draft standards and rules to give everyone the opportunity to give their views and help shape the final versions.

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‘We will then publish the new standards and rules before the key provisions relating to the supervision of the preparation, assembly, dispensing and sale and supply of medicines come into effect on 10 December 2026, to help everyone involved understand their responsibilities and accountabilities, and to make sure the changes are introduced safely and effectively.’

In September, The Pharmacist took a closer look at the challenges of supervision in community pharmacy, and the impact of legislation change in this area.