I have written previously about workforce problems and the need for pharmacists and department managers to re-examine the roles that pharmacy assistants can perform in the workplace.
A very exciting project that has gained funding under the Research and Developments Grants Program of the Third Community Pharmacy Agreement is the 'Workforce and Career Options for Pharmacy Assistants" http://www.guild.org.au/public/researchdocs/pharm_assist_tender.pdf

Healthcare Management Advisors (HMA) have been appointed by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia (PGA) to identify areas of current community pharmacy practice that may, with the provision of appropriate training, be assumed by dispensary and/or pharmacy assistants.
The project has three phases and should be completed by February 2004.
The project overview describes the deliverables at the end of phase three as: "competency standards in the current Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) format, training materials, assessment instruments a matrix of agreed articulation arrangements."

In the new Community Pharmacy National Training Package there has been a significant uplifting of the standards that must be complied with and competencies that pharmacy assistants must be demonstrated.
It is timely to look at the roles of pharmacy assistants from a workforce perspective as the threat to the viability of pharmacy as a whole is acute due to shortages of qualified professional staff.
The new training package and the subsequent changes to the wages award for pharmacy assistants has seen the level three and level four pharmacy assistants undergo some significant changes.

When evaluating the most significant pharmacy assistants that could take some of the load away from the Pharmacist, some pharmacists only review the roles of the dispensary technicians.
While I agree that these well trained staff members are significant, in the big picture there are many other staff members who can take away considerable amount of workload if they are\trained and supervised appropriately.

It is necessary to look outside of pharmacy for the appropriate training and competency development that these senior staff may require to assist the pharmacist manage their business effectively.
Some of the education areas that should be explored include marketing, retail skills, business administration, training and human resources and IT.

Training in pharmacy has traditionally been provided in-house and it has been heavily reliant on manufacturers and drug companies to provide the knowledge and often the trainer.
The new Community Pharmacy National Training Package provides the template that will enable many third party providers to deliver the necessary training in a more generic and structured format.
For example the provider may be a TAFE college, a centre of excellence, management company or a structured training provider.

It will be difficult to find the happy medium in this project as you have a diverse array of pharmacy sizes/layouts.
For clients in the smaller pharmacies the pharmacy assistant has to know everything as there may be only two staff to run the whole business, while in the larger pharmacies, the pharmacy assistants have defined roles.
For the pharmacies that are open after hours there is often a mix of regular and casual staff and the casuals may not have the depth of training of a permanent pharmacy assistant.
Some pharmacies lose sight of the fact that as the business is open extended hours they are effectively telling the customers that they can expect the same service during a week day as they can on a Sunday afternoon.
The customer has a right to expect to receive this same level service whatever time they visit the pharmacy.

Some of the international models of pharmacy will have an impact on this project and there are ideas and concepts to be gained from studying what other countries are doing. In Denmark and Holland, Pharmacy is completely different and the training modules for dispensary technicians are the same as for pharmacists to a certain level and the technicians break away and start work while the pharmacists continue and complete their degree.

HMA will review several areas of pharmacy including dispensary and retail management and they will then provide a comprehensive report on whether community pharmacy is making a consolidated effort to utilize their staff to the best of their ability.
I am sure this report will cause a great deal of discussion as we move from the traditional pharmacy assistant to a more highly trained individual who has demonstrated competencies in their various areas of expertise.

It was interesting to note in the preamble of the project overview, the authors noted that there has been a very small uptake of the Certificate Level 111 training even though this has been available since 1995. Under the new training package there is now a Certificate level IV available which is primarily aimed at the retail services manager.
It is now a reality that there are retail management roles for pharmacy assistants who want a more defined and fulfilling career in pharmacy.

In my experience, the majority of pharmacy assistants do want a career in pharmacy and they are striving to be the best that they can.
The days are numbered for those pharmacy assistants who are just interested in being the glamour girl on the beauty counter.
Many of the staff who are employed in these areas are now applying for work with a qualification in such areas as beauty therapy, hairdressing, massage, aromatherapy and retail or business skills.