Pharmacy Technicians are healthcare professionals who work collaboratively with pharmacists and are responsible for preparing, supplying, administering as well as promoting the safe and effective use of medicines. They also accuracy check medicines for prescriptions, package, assemble and label them, as well as respond to patients and customers queries.
A Pharmacy Technician could be placed in a hospital, community pharmacy, general practice or care home. Whilst the role of a Pharmacy Technician in each of these settings is similar: reviewing and recording the medication patients should be taking, ensuring sufficient supplies, administering medicines, and educating patients to support their understanding on how to use their medicines safely, some roles may differ depending on where one is are located. In a hospital, for example, they would be involved in the aseptic preparation of medicines, whilst in a community pharmacy, they may offer advice to patients on public health initiatives such as stopping smoking.
Job growth in the sector is expected to increase by 10.7%, leading to 3,737 new jobs by 20271.
According to the National Careers Service2, the average annual salary of a Pharmacy Technician in the UK starts at £21,892 and can reach £30,615 for experienced Pharmacy Technicians. Taking an average, a mid-career Pharmacy Technician may expect to earn around £26,254. They would work 37 to 40 hours weekly on this salary.
According to another source3, the average salary was reported to be £25,000 annually (around £1710 monthly), which is about £4600 lower (16%) than the national average salary in the UK. A starting average salary is around £19,000 and the highest salaries, for experienced Pharmacy Technicians can exceed £40,000. A mid-career Pharmacy Technician with 4-9 years of experience could earn £23,800, while a Senior Pharmacy Technician with 10-20 years of experience makes, on average, £32,250. Highly experienced Pharmacy Technicians with more than 20 years of expertise earn £35,800 on average. According to this same source, it’s reported that 86% of Pharmacy Technicians are female, and just 18% are male.
Other sources quoted average salaries as £21,2594, £26,7785, £26,6836, £32,5737 and £22,8558 annually.
Putting this into perspective, here are some related jobs and annual salaries3:
| Pharmacist | £40K (£27K – £64K) |
| Clinical Pharmacist | £44K (£26K – £71K) |
| Hospital Pharmacist | £44K (£27K – £72K) |
| Pharmacy Assistant | £18K (£13K – £22K) |
| Pharmacy Manager | £45K (£27K – £54K) |
| Consultant Pharmacist | £52K (£35K – £75K) |
References:
Pharmacy Technician, accessed on 26/07/21 via https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/pharmacy/roles-pharmacy/pharmacy-technician
1 Job group: Pharmaceutical technicians, accessed on 26/07/21 via https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-groups/3217/pharmacy-technician