Health Pharmacy Services - Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship

The Pharmacy Services Apprenticeship offers an effective way of training professionals to meet this demand, and supports the health sector's vision to develop an increasingly skilled and flexible workforce, whilst maintaining high-quality and safe care for patients.

The apprenticeship is for individuals looking to start a career as a Dispensing and Pharmacy Assistant and provides training for a range of responsibilities within the pharmacy. These include the sale of over-the-counter medicines, providing information to customers on symptoms and products, prescription receipt and collection, assembling prescribed items, and ordering, receiving and storing pharmaceutical stock.

You complete three core units at this level:

• Assist with the provision of a pharmacy service to meet individuals' need
• Ensure your own actions reduce risks to health and safety
• Contribute to the effectiveness of teams

You also choose four optional units from a range, including:

• Assemble prescribed items
• Assist in the preparation of documentation, materials and other items for manufacture and assembly of medicinal products
• Maintain pharmaceutical stock

Topics covered can include:

• providing safe and effective pharmacy services
• supply medicines and devices to patients, whether on prescription or over the counter
• achieving the best outcomes through a patient’s medicines
• assemble medicines for prescriptions
• provide information to patients and other healthcare professionals.
• manage areas of medicines supply such as dispensaries
• supervise other pharmacy staff
• answering customers questions face to face or by phone
• pre-packing, assembling and labelling medicines
• referring problems or queries to the pharmacist

For more information please visit the Insitute of Apprenticeships. 

You will need:

• To be aged 16 or older
• To be employed in a Pre registration Pharmacy Technician post for a minimum of 30 hours per week with 20% of your normal working hours set aside for you to complete your training and study
• GCSEs at grade 4 or above in English, Maths and Science.

All applicants must have an interview and assessment in English and Maths to confirm that the apprenticeship is suitable for them.

Employers may also set additional entry requirements, as a prerequisite to working with them.

Apprenticeships are assessed by classroom study coursework and assessments along with on-the-job practicals.

On completion of this course, you can progress onto further study in this field or into a career in the health and social care sector. Qualifications you can move on to include Pearson BTEC Level 3 Diploma in the Principles and Practice for Pharmacy Technicians.