Establishing the Role of a Clinical Pharmacy Technician

Aim To demonstrate quantitatively the range and extent of a clinical pharmacist's activities that can be delegated to pharmacy technicians without compromising patient care. Method All activities undertaken by the clinical pharmacist were evaluated and reassigned to the technicians if they met strict criteria. A job description for the technician was developed and approved by management and staff pharmacists. Data were collected and assessed prospectively for three staffing models: original model (1 pharmacist:30 beds, no technician); initial model (1 pharmacist:45 beds, 1 technician); and revised model (1 pharmacist:40 beds, 1 technician). The following key performance indicators were collected by clinical pharmacists before and after implementing the new models: number of clinical interventions recorded; number of medication history interviews completed; time lapsed after admission before a medication history interview is completed; and a surrogate indicator of pharmacy workload. Results The initial model showed a negative outcome in all areas and resulted in the model being revised. The revised model demonstrated that there was no negative difference in the key performance indicators compared with the original model. Conclusion Ward pharmacy technicians can assist pharmacists in achieving optimum patient care and quality use of medicines.